FINAL THOUGHTS: Bud Seretean was an extraordinary man and I was privileged that he was my friend. I remember in February of 1986, I visited him at his home in Boca Raton, Fla., to seek his counsel on the feasibility of launching a new floor covering publication. His advice was invaluable, and he even offered to fund the project, which reinforced my confidence and put Floor Covering News on the drawing board. I was lucky. Seretean believed intelligence, skill, ambition, dedication and several other attributes were the ingredients of success, but he always acknowledged that luck played a role in the outcome. Without self- eprecation, he would often smile and say, “Yeah, I was lucky at times.”

EXAMPLES: After his discharge from military service, Seretean applied to Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s and Abraham & Straus for their training programs. He was turned down by all three. But, a friend, accepted by A&S, decided to go home to Utah and that created an opening. Seretean called, re-applied and was granted another interview. He got the job. Lucky. Three months into the job, the assistant buyer of floor coverings resigned. A temporary replacement was needed immediately. Here’s how he explained it: “They needed a big kid who could carry rugs around. Brains didn’t mean a thing. I was the biggest guy there, and that’s how I got into the carpet business.” Lucky. When he was working for Katherine Rug Mills and had to relocate to Dalton, he stayed in “a rat-infested motel with all the conveniences of poverty.” He was ready to give up when Said Shaheen, an owner of Katherine, brought him to the home of Dixie Bandy, who always had two boarders living there. Normally, ‘no vacancy.’ “Well,” said Mrs. Bandy, “one of the two bachelors living here just moved out.” Lucky.

AT THE START: Coronet began with two all-wool qualities which were tufted versions of Trendtex, the industry’s best selling tem at the time, woven by Mohawk and accounting for 37% of its business. “I sold one version with the same amount of yarn for $5.95 and a junior version at $4.98,” said Seretean. “In the first year I did a little over a million dollars and made a pretax of 8%. That’s pretty darn good.” Coronet’s first rolls were shipped to Jaeger & Branch in California, its biggest customer, and when Dick Branch called to re-order, Seretean said, “We made it!” The plant was a rundown shack “right against the railroad tracks, and when a train would come through, we would have to stop the machine. The building was unbelievable, the worst in the world. We walked through the plant gingerly, or we could put a foot through the floor boards.”

THE NAME: Choosing a name for the fledgling company wasn’t a haphazard selection but a carefully though out process. Seretean explained: “We wanted a C for alliteration with Carpet Company, and we wanted a name that would have a symbol to depict it and denote luxury. A crown was already in existence—Crown Carpet Mills—so we decided to use Coronet, which is a small crown.” And that was the only thing small about the company.

THE MAN: Bud Seretean was fiercely loyal and maintained friendships for lifetimes with people who worked for him, rendering the employer-employee relationship virtually indistinguishable. Few employers enjoy the respect and sincere admiration accorded him by those who worked for him. His view of his business was fundamental. “You start a business,” he would say, “build the business, build a team around you, and then, like General MacArthur, fade into other activities.” He told me that 25 years ago…and in retrospect, that’s exactly what he did. He was a philanthropist, a sportsman and a businessman, and he did it all with class and compassion. And unlike MacArthur, his legacy will persist.