Why Jim Gabbert Fired Himself

“We had become schizophrenic,” Jim Gabbert says of his family’s retail business. “Everybody was clear on their [own] vision, but there were numerous visions and a lot of them conflicted. Candidly, my failure was not being clear on my vision, but instead allowing the mantra of empowering my employees to override brand clarity.” Gabbert describes his previous attempts to hand over the reins of the second-generation family business to those whose views were inconsistent with its long-time brand image as his “greatest failure.”

You may not know Jim Gabbert, but you know his store, even if you’ve never been there yourself. Located in the Galleria mall in Edina, Gabberts Furniture & Design Studio has one of the best-known retail names in the Twin Cities—and is one of the metro’s most stylish and elaborate stores. Shoppers who have strolled through its vast maze of furniture layouts could always find solace in any number of large cushy chairs or sofas until a salesperson happened along to help them create their perfect, personalized interior.

"Today," Gabbert says, "you have to be clearer about who you are and who you serve."

But for Jim Gabbert, Gabberts’ primary owner and chairman of the board, the family business seemed to have lost its way in the labyrinth. It was losing money, and it no longer seemed to know what kind of store it should be. Not that the quality of Gabberts’ products ever really slipped much—it’s just that the store was trying to be too many things to too many shoppers. And for all his entrepreneurial skill, Gabbert knew he was not the person to solve the riddle.

So nearly two years ago, he went outside the ownership group—eight others who are all Gabbert family members or employees—and hired a turnaround man to take over as CEO. The results so far: Gabberts recently turned a profit for the first time in five years. It also passed out bonuses to its non-sales staff for the store’s first-half 2006 performance.

The solution for Gabberts, it turned out, was moving forward by going backward. That, and taking a few bends out of the maze.