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Cover Story
From Generation to Generation
When history repeats itself it’s good for business at Pasquarello
Interiors.
By Howard Shingle
A few weeks ago,
Denise Pasquarello was in a client’s home on a call to reupholster
a sofa. Work on that same sofa had been done originally by Denise’s
grandfather. What’s more, it is very likely at some point since,
her father had installed window treatments for this same client.
This is not all that unusual for Pasquarello Interiors, Stratford,
NJ, a third-generation interior decorating company that began in
the 1930s. With its long history, and between 80 and 90 percent
of its customer base being repeats or referrals, the Pasquarellos
often see customers they have worked with before—even if it’s
a whole generation or two before.
“We get people who every couple of years they call us to do
something. Our clients are pretty loyal,” says Denise. Many
of these customers can remember Denise and her sister Christina
as kids running around the shop. The two literally have grown up
in the family business and, although you’d never guess it,
they’ve already been in it for 18 and 15 years, respectively.
These days Denise and Christina handle most of the company’s
sales. In addition, Denise also orders the fabrics and does the
bookkeeping. Christina oversees the workroom and helps fabricate
custom draperies. She also sets up appointments and follows up with
customers.
“We both wear a lot of hats,” Denise admits. “We
do a little bit of everything, but I think that’s always the
case with a small family business.”
Their father, George Pasquarello, remains very active in the business
installing custom treatments for customers. “We’re very
family oriented,” Denise continues. “Three of the eight
people here are family members. People like a small family business
versus a big retail chain. We can concentrate on quality because
we oversee everything right here.” Pasquarello Interiors’
longevity in the business is another key to its success. Over the
years it has seen many others come and go. In the meantime, it has
redefined itself somewhat, but has always remained a small family
business that concentrates on quality and service.
NOT A PROBLEM
Pasquarello Interiors is mainly a shop-at-home business that offers
custom window treatments, upholstering and bedding, including custom-made
headboards and upholstered benches and ottomans. Most of the work
is done on premises in the company’s workroom where all of
the soft treatments are created. Custom hard treatments are ordered
directly from the company’s suppliers, and quilting is contracted
out.
There are five employees in the workroom, three of them upholsterers.
“We can make anything here,” says Denise. “If someone
has a picture, we can make it. Basically we sell everything from
A to Z. When we go to people’s houses they may want basic pinch
pleats or they may want fancy valances—we do them all.”
In their area, most clients are interested in draperies and soft
treatments. “We sell a lot of Kingston and Empire valances,
swags and fringe—we sell a lot of trims,” Denise adds.
But Pasquarello Interiors also sells its share of hard treatments.
“It’s when we do both that we generally make out,”
Denise admits. “Normally the jobs we get as far as the hard
window treatments go are to do the whole thing, like putting up
a shade with a valance over the top. We don’t get a whole lot
of people who call for a houseful of blinds, because we’re
not that competitive with blind pricing.”
In fact, Denise says Pasquarello Interiors doesn’t discount
any of its hard treatments.
Service is stressed and sometimes that means taking care of repairs
or other problems, which can be done quickly in the company’s
workroom. “If there is a problem on a job, generally once it
comes back it is turned around in a couple of days and is back in
the customer’s house,” Denise says.
BEST WAY TO GO
Across the river from Philadelphia, PA, Pasquarello Interiors’
customers tend to be middle- to upper-income residents in an area
within an hour of the showroom. Located on a main highway, the showroom
has been the company’s home for some 25 years.
Inside are about a dozen full-size window displays, about half of
which can be seen through the shop’s large storefront windows.
And, of course, there are lots and lots of sample books. “We’ve
been around for so long, we have established accounts with a lot
of companies,” says Denise. Even though it’s mainly a
shop-at-home business, Christina estimates the showroom sees three
to five people wander in daily.
There’s a lot of new construction going on in the area, as
well and Pasquarello Interiors gets many calls from these new homeowners.
“They will start with blinds and shades right away,” Denise
says. “Then they’ll start room-by-room with draperies.
That’s kind of the best way to go, because they have time to
live in the house and decide what they want.”
Every now and then there comes that rare client who knows to start
planning early. “I have a customer right now I’m working
with on a new construction. The house will be done this month, but
she came in back in October with blueprints to get started. When
she moves in, everything will be done,” she says.
Because so many customers are repeats and referrals, Pasquarello
Interiors has managed well with basic telephone directory advertising.
“Occasionally,” Denise says, “when a newspaper or
magazine runs a home special feature, we’ll do that.”
Advertising programs in the past haven’t worked well for them,
partly because they stress quality and service over price. “Our
price points are midway,” Denise explains. “We’re
not low and we’re not high, so people who are shopping price
generally won’t find the least expensive price here. Usually,
people who are responding to ads or are going down a list of businesses
are calling around for the least expensive price.”
So how do they handle a price shopper? “We’ll try to give
them a quote over the phone,” Denise says. Most clients, however,
start as callers and are turned into appointments. “In most
cases, we talk with them for a few minutes about what they need,
what kinds of things they have in their homes, so we can incorporate
samples for an in-home visit. Generally, we wrap it up in one to
two trips to the house. We probably close 80 to 90 percent of the
calls we go out on.”
In lieu of ad campaigns, Pasquarello Interiors prefers to showcase
its talent. Once a year the company exhibits at a local home show
in Philadelphia. “It’s good to keep our name out there,”
says Denise, “but actually, from the home show we do every
January we get business throughout the year.”
Pasquarello Interiors also works with an area furniture store on
designer showhouses. “We will do their showhouse window treatments.
In exchange, they will refer us,” Denise says.
STICK TO IT
Pasquarello Interiors started out in 1934 as an upholstery shop.
Over the years, it has had to redefine itself in order to help the
business grow and be successful. The company even sold carpeting
for a while. “At one time we had five or six upholsters and
that was the main part of our business and the window treatments
were a very small part of it,” Denise recalls. “But things
changed, and people tend not to reupholster as much as they used
to. It’s not cost effective.” She estimates that 75 percent
of the business today is window treatments.
Denise and Christina say much of Pasquarello Interiors’ success
today is owned to their father’s hard work. “When we got
into it, the business was fairly successful, and we were able to
come in and make it a little more successful,” Denise says.
“But he did all the groundwork to get us to where we are today.”
In fact, it was George Pasquarello who brought window coverings
into the business because he was always trying to find ways to be
more profitable. “I think he saw what was going to happen [with
upholstery] and he wanted the business to grow.”
Future plans do not call for expanding the product lines at Pasquarello
Interiors. Instead, Denise and Christina say they will work to expand
the marketing area they cover. “We are nearby to a lot of up-scale
communities that are more like an hour-and-a-half from here. But
we’ll pretty much stick to window coverings and upholstery,”
Denise says.
That’s the core business that has helped Pasquarello Interiors
survive for three generations and will see it through for many years
to come. Actually, considering the company’s nearly 70-year
history, custom draperies are still fairly new things. “We
actually started making draperies here about 10 or 15 years ago.
Up until then we sent everything out,” Denise explains. But
that was the decision that has made all the difference for Pasquarello
Interiors. “There are very few companies that have the type
of business we have and don’t contract out a lot of their work,”
Denise says. “We’re unique in that way.”
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