Meet Havertys:
A Tradition in Retailing
from Trust the Leaders Issue 7, Spring 2004
The year 1885 was full of historical milestones: Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” was first published, the Statue of Liberty arrived in New York City’s harbor and the first appendectomy in the United States was performed. That same year saw the creation of what would be a future furniture empire with the opening of Havertys Furniture Company in Atlanta.
In the early days, Havertys customers could find phonographs, mahogany bedroom sets at a mere $35 and ice boxes with 500 pounds of free ice. Havertys’ first Atlanta showroom was built in the heart of the city. Soon after, the retailer grew to expand in major cities throughout the Southeast.
In later years, the Southeast witnessed a decline in thriving, downtown business districts and an influx of people moving their families to the quieter suburbs. Havertys followed suit and began opening stores near air-conditioned malls and outdoor shopping centers where they would be more accessible by consumers.
Today, customers have a large selection of high-quality furnishings and accessories from the best names in the industry to choose from, for any room in the home. Through the years, products and prices have changed, but the one thing that has remained steady is Havertys’ continuing commitment to serving the customer and maintaining a tradition of service and success.
Not long after the opening of the first Havertys Furniture showroom, Smith, Gambrell & Russell opened its doors in Atlanta in 1893. SGR’s relationship with Havertys began with strong family ties through the marriage of Alex Smith (an SGR namesake) to Betty Haverty in 1946. The firm started out by handling Havertys’ minor repossession transactions. Though the partnership began because of family connections, Havertys soon saw SGR’s outstanding personal service and retained it for other areas in which the company needed legal representation. Today, SGR is general counsel to Havertys and partners Kendrick Smith, Terry Ferraro Schwartz, Jane Haverty, Hillyer Young, Lisa Ballentine and Jay Schwartz routinely become involved in such specialty areas as securities, employee benefits, finance, real estate, litigation and intellectual property protection.
“Because Havertys and SGR have worked together for so long, SGR knows Havertys’ business extremely well and can advise them in the best manner,” says Jane Haverty, a partner in SGR’s real estate division. “We know the ins and outs of the business, managements’ operational concerns, and their business philosophy. As such, we can give them practical and trusted advice on how to achieve many of their business goals.”
Though Havertys is a publicly traded company, with 8 of its 12 Board members “independent” under NYSE rules, family members are among a strong network of key management. With family values forefront in the operation of this furniture business, it is easy to relay the principles of honesty, dependability and respect to Havertys’ customers.
Havertys is a full-service home furnishings retailer with 113 stores in more than 70 cities across 14 southern and central states. It provides customers with a wide selection of quality merchandise, primarily in the middle to upper-middle price ranges, and offers nationally known brand-name products and its own Havertys brand merchandise. The two classes of stock are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols HVT and HVTA. For more information, visit havertys.com.
