User:Ntepperman

Noah Tepperman
As a third-generation owner manager of Tepperman’s Furniture, Noah Tepperman works with his brother to run the 90-year-old retail operation. The foundation of the company is strong, and the generation is moving it forward with a well-planned strategy. Noah joined the company as director of customer care and now directs the company as its secretary and treasurer. As part of his duties, he’s beefed up the retailer’s social media presence and taken it to a whole new level. There’s Twitter, Facebook, a YouTube channel and a blog that features a myriad of things from trends to the retailer’s charitable and volunteer work. Giving back to the community and helping those in need are key elements of the retailer’s business plan. Noah is no stranger to participating and putting his stamp on good causes. He’s involved in a number of community organizations including The Windsor Regional Hospital’s Foundation Board of Directors, a local poverty reduction strategy board named Pathway 2 Potential, the Jewish National Fund of Windos and Kids Kicking Cancer Canada Board of Directors. He’s even taken part in a local Dancing with the Local Stars to help out the community. For real. Go to YouTube and search for it.

It all started when Nate Tepperman started peddling goods door-to-door in London back in the 1920s. From those humble beginnings Tepperman’s has become a powerhouse retailer in furniture, appliance and electronics with huge stores in London, Windsor, Chatham and Sarnia.

Nate’s grandsons Noah and Andrew are carrying his entrepreneurial spirit into the third generation. Noah Tepperman never got to meet his grandfather, but cherishes his legacy. “I love hearing stories about him from people who knew him and come into the stores. He has played an enormous role in my life,” said Tepperman, who is treasurer of the company with his brother Andrew serving as president.

Nate Tepperman emigrated to Canada in the 1920s escaping the persecution of Jews in his native Russia. He landed in Montreal and worked his way down to London, planning to eventually hook up with an uncle in New Jersey.

Nate started working as a pedlar and found he had knack for selling. “My grandfather was one of those people who really connected with everyone. He could maintain a relationship,” Tepperman said.

Nate moved down the road to Windsor and bought a bike, and later a truck and then opened a small store in 1929. He married his bookkeeper Rose and steadily expanded the businesses, moving into bigger stores and building warehouses in the 1940s and ’50s. In 1958, Nate’s son Bill joined the business, but was almost diverted into a career in politics. Bill Tepperman was a dedicated member of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, later to become the New Democratic Party, and went to Saskatchewan to campaign for Tommy Douglas.

“My father was able to speak to the immigrant identity. The opportunity to work hard and create Canada as a country for everyone,” Tepperman said.

Bill Tepperman ran for the NDP in Windsor in 1962 but lost to Herb Grey. Bill and his wife Rochelle served on a variety of community boards and charities.

Tragedy struck in 1970. Although he was a strong, athletic man, Nate Tepperman was caught in an undertow while swimming on Miami Beach and drowned. Bill took over the business and continued to expand, In 1978, Tepperman’s moved into a new 50,000-square-foot store in Windsor. “My grandfather was able to build the business from nothing and survive the Depression, but my father was the right guy to expand the business” Tepperman said.

In 1981, Tepperman’s expanded to Chatham, taking over a family business from a proprietor who was retiring. “It was a good fit. There was a customer base that liked what a family business had to offer,” Tepperman said.

In 1993 Tepperman’s opened a store in Sarnia. Despite the growing business, Tepperman said his father would come home for dinner every night. He and his brothers, Andrew and Jonathan, would play hide-and-seek inside the store when it was closed on Sundays. His father would count down on store’s loudspeaker, giving them a chance to hide.

Tepperman worked at the family store as a teenager but after high school, he left for New York to study English literature at Columbia University. “In Windsor, I was part of a family brand name and when you’re a kid you hate to be singled out. It was liberating to be in a city where I was anonymous.”

Tepperman considered becoming a teacher or professor but ended up working as a literary agent for the William Morris Agency, later working for the firm’s IT department. His brother Andrew went to Vassar College, in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., which had just become a co-ed school, and took business and economics. After graduating he worked as a travelling sales representative for a furniture company.

Tepperman said there was never any pressure to join the family business. His brother Jonathan went into journalism and is now managing editor of Foreign Affairs magazine. “My parents made it clear that we could do whatever we wanted to do.”

But in 1997, Andrew returned to the family business heading up a new expansion. Tepperman’s had just bought Patton’s Place in London, a leading London furniture and appliance retailer founded in 1958 by Gord Patton and Ron Logan. The Patton’s Place acquisition also was a good fit for Tepperman’s and Noah joined the company in 2000 as director of human resources.

In 2001, Tepperman’s opened a large new store in Chatham and another two years later in Sarnia. In 2006, Andrew took over as president and Noah became treasurer. A year later, the company opened a huge 85,000-square-foot store and a 100,000-square-foot distribution centre in London, the largest in the chain.

With online shopping more popular, he said it is increasingly difficult for traditional retailers to compete on price alone. Tepperman said customer loyalty is still an important factor in the business. “You may not be the only place they shop, but you will be top on the list.”

Although he has two young children, Tepperman tries to keep up the family tradition of involvement in the community. He serves on the board of the Better Business Bureau of Western Ontario and the London Chamber of Commerce municipal affairs committee. He also has served on the United Way Campaign in Windsor and the Windsor Regional Hospital Foundation. In the highly competitive furniture and appliance business, Tepperman said reputation and reliability of a family name still count for Southwestern Ontario consumers. “The building has my name on it. When people come in and give us their money, there’s a pledge of trust and we take that very seriously.”

Links
http://www.harveybondy.com/html/dancing_with_the_local_stars_22.html http://www.lawtimesnews.com/200508221093/headline-news/swastika-grafitti-at-strosberg-39s-windsor-home http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/Newborn+Lily+Beatrice+Tepperman+eight+days+sits+Stanley+with+help+father+Noah+Tepperman+right+Chicago+Black+Hawks+head+coach+Joel+Quenneville+visited+Windsor+Regional+Hospital+Metropolitan+campus+Tuesday+August+2010/3354989/story.html http://www.jenniferbgraham.com/july-month-of-celebration/ http://www.retailernowmag.com/teppermans-honored-with-lifetime-achievement-award/