Why Jim Gabbert Fired Himself

What Else Is In Store

With much of the work of “redoing” Gabberts behind him, Jim Gabbert now has time to pursue what he loves doing best—creating new businesses. Recently, he entered into an exclusive sales agreement with Reshare Corporation to sell its Internet-based service to the home furnishings industry. The patented software and service allows manufacturers to sell directly to consumers from their Web sites without bypassing their local retailers; designated retailers fill the orders the site generates. “The sale becomes a shared sale,” Gabbert notes.

So far, Gabbert has sold the Reshare product to five home furnishings manufacturers and two lighting importers. It’s an easy sell, he says, adding that all he really needs to do is pick the phone up and call his many friends and acquaintances in the industry. “They know me to be that visionary with good fresh ideas, so I can get their ear,” he says. “It’s easy to sell a win-win.”

In November, Gabbert opened Zia Sleep Sanctuary, a multi-channel retailer (with a bricks-and-mortar location in Eden Prairie Center) selling everything having to do with snoozing. “Sleep solutions” is how Gabbert describes the store’s wares: “We sell mattresses and anything I can find that will help you sleep—aromatherapy, sound machines, books, comforters, special lamps.”

While he nurtures these new enterprises, Jim Gabbert plans to remain actively involved in Gabberts’ major capital investments, strategic planning, and the refinement and development of its product lines. “There is no one in the United States that knows more about the market segment we’re in and the products than Jim,” Knight says.

Knight’s job, Gabbert says, “is to one day work himself out of a job and put in place a management team and a working business plan that his team doesn’t have to be involved with on a regular basis. He’ll complete the renovation process and then continue to be involved as a stabilizing partner, overseeing what’s been put in motion to be sure it’s on track. And he will continue to work with us on an ongoing basis.” Knight will also be given a board position. He will remain as CEO until his services are no longer required, Gabbert adds.

“Mike has done a great job balancing the role of strategic partner with the operational demands of restructuring Gabberts,” he observes. “All of the things you worry about when bringing in a team like Mike’s—‘Are they going to overpower management? Are they going to just want to deal with the short term and not worry about the long term?’—that has not happened. They have been as worried about the brand as they have the financial success of Gabberts.”

Knight says, “It’s been a real growing experience for everyone involved—Jim, me, the employees. But we had to go through hell and back to get here. No one wants to lay off people, and no one wants to close operations. There were many dedicated, good employees for which there wasn’t a place anymore.” After layoffs shrunk the Gabberts’ Edina staff to 200, the store is hiring once again. At the management level, Knight has brought in a new president and general manager, Rebecca Miller; a new director of marketing, Linda Hofflander; and a new manager of the design studio, Michael Rabatin.

“What’s really exciting is that with the re-invention, the longstanding Gabberts customer will be delighted,” Gabbert says. “We’ll be more of what they want.”

And Jim Gabbert is getting to do more of what he wants.