Tom Pendley talks about Mannington Mills' legacy & his role as CEO
[Salem, N.J.] Starting the year with a new role at Mannington Mills as president and CEO, Tom Pendley shared with FCW that while there are both short-term and long-term goals for the company, he is primarily a steward of its nearly 108-year legacy.
“The great thing about Mannington Mills is it has a long history of transition planning — very programmed, managed and deliberate,” explained Pendley, who was previously president of Mannington Commercial and for the last several months COO for Mannington Mills. Those positions and working closely with other Mannington leaders, he shared, have prepared him well. “We meet often and are fully integrated into the total business strategy The transition is pretty straight forward.”
That integration is matched with Mannington Mills’ legacy of leadership — far from a revolving door, executives here are in place for a significant amount of time. “The other big piece is a stable leadership team, each with their targets and strategic plans they are working towards every day,” Pendley said.
There will be, he said, no major changes or shifts in strategy. “My job moving into this role is a continuation of a long history soon to be 108 year old organization. It’s that simple. I’m not looking to have a Tom Pendley mark on the business but have the business be better on the day I hand it off than the day I received it because that is what the organization has done.”
Strategies to Succeed
Pendley pointed to the company’s winning equation: “If a product is designed well, serviced well and fairly priced, it’s going to sell. I’ve seen that on the commercial side. At end of day, we are in the fashion business, in the service business,” he said.
But Pendley also shared that the company is prepared for what looks to be a challenging market environment this year. “There are multiple ways to attack a recession, a downturn. What we do know right now is the residential flooring business environment is frozen,” he asserted. “It is a bit stalled right now and that is going to be here for a while.”
But, he added, “We are in it for the long haul and going to commit to the future of the business. We will look at how to execute better and be easier to do business with from a customer perspective. And, we are going to continue to invest in good product and, like everyone, look for opportunities to save but most importantly, invest aggressively for the future.”
Indeed, Pendley said the company will take advantage in the coming year to focus on the business and continue to invest. “We know we can win with design. We can win with innovation. We also know we are a well-recognized industry brand in a world of diminishing brand awareness. We will continue to support the brand,” he said.
Powering Through Pain Points
Mannington Mills has grown quite a bit in the last decade and that doesn’t come without challenges. But Pendley also sees an opportunity to serve its customer better. “We are in a decade of doing significant acquisitions and with that creates integration challenges that impact internal teams and customers. So we see an opportunity to focus on execution excellence,” he explained.
While Pendley said making acquisitions remains in the company’s DNA, for now it will “pause on the acquisition side while we chew on what we have.”
Still, acquisitions are in Pendley’s DNA as well. “I come from an M&A background; I am definitely a proponent of acquisitions and will continue to see it as an arrow in our quiver. At the right time, with the right resources and the right acquisition, we will move aggressively. But I don’t see it in the near future.”
While some challenges are unique to the company, others are industry wide or even global. “The list of challenges is long — will there be a recession, how long will it be, will interest rates stabilize, commodity prices, raw material, the list goes on and on. Challenges are going to be there,” noted Pendley. “These are unprecedented times.”
Here too he pointed to the company’s history as part of its strength. “We have 107 years of going through a lot of different challenges so as an organization, we know how to deal with these events. The Campbell family ownership and our board of directors help steer the ship in turbulent waters; we have a long history and a good method of staying calm in the storm.”
Calm and calculated will guide the company forward. “We made the right strategic decisions with a dramatic investment in LVT. We shifted our portfolio pretty dramatically to go where the market is,” Pendley shared. “We focus on what we can control. That’s really what we focus on day in and day out.”
And in the tough times, he offered, “It is critical to keep customer focused and tune out the outside noise.”
And while Pendley has attended Surfaces in Vegas in the past, this will be his first full show attendance. “There is pent up excitement from manufacturers. Surfaces is a good litmus test for 2023,” he said. “Surfaces gives you that first read. If it’s great, it will be the kick-off to a decent year.”