Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, January 3, 1995 TAG: 9501030016
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ELIZABETH LIBBY NORTHERN VIRGINIA DAILY
DATELINE: SPERRYVILLE, VA. (AP) LENGTH: Medium
While the weather in this Blue Ridge Mountain community says winter, inside Faith Mountain Co. the season is spring.
With the incessant ringing of phones from last month's last-minute Christmas shoppers ordering Santa figurines, holly sweater vests and stocking hangers finally ended, company officials are busy choosing photographs for the spring catalog, one of four published by Faith Mountain annually.
The selections they make will be critical to convincing customers they can't live without a pink-and-red Valentine's Day jumper or a pastel-blue cardigan with an Easter motif.
It's just one more in a long line of responsibilities company President and Chief Executive Officer Cheryl Woodard has tackled this day, and like many of the decisions behind her, Woodard is confident in her choices.
Faith Mountain's self-described ``homey, warm and comfortable'' look starts and ends with Woodard and her husband, Martin, who is the company's executive vice president and chief operating officer. It's a casual, informal feel that mirrors the couple's way of life. If it's not something they would want in their home, it's not likely to end up in the catalog.
The pair founded Faith Mountain Herbs and Antiques in 1977, selling dried flowers, herbs and crafts out of their 1790s farmhouse down the street from the Sperryville Emporium, one of the area's biggest tourist attractions.
They both were drawn to the sleepy village in Rappahannock County. It was part of the ``back-to-the-land'' movement of the 1970s. A town of 333 residents is not a likely place for the headquarters of a $15 million-a-year business, but when Cheryl Woodard started the company so she could stay home with the couple's 4-year-old son, the pair never envisioned what life would become.
With many county residents commuting out of the area to work, the Woodards' business relied for years on tourists who passed through town on their way to Interstate 81. But visitors weren't enough to sustain the store. With the opening of Interstate 66, the couple knew that a decrease in traffic would kill the business unless they got creative.
In 1981, they decided to experiment with a small black-and-white catalog mailed to 1,000 customers who had visited the store. They soon were mailing out four-color catalogs. Business improved each year.
In 1985, Martin Woodard sold his construction business and joined Faith Mountain full time. They sold stock to local residents to generate capital, but it remained a small venture until 1989, when a grant allowed them to build an office complex on Virginia 211 and move their operation out of the 10-room farmhouse they had lived in until 1982.
At the time, Faith Mountain was a $3 million business with 18 employees.
``In the mail-order business, you have to get bigger to be a player,'' Cheryl Woodard said. ``Being a million, $2 million or $3 million business is too small.''
The Woodards set their sights at $5 million ``because we knew at $5 million, then we could start to make money,'' she said. ``It's a numbers game. Five million in sales for another kind of business might be profitable, but in mail order, because of expenses, the promotional costs, printing the catalog and mailing, the numbers just don't work out till you hit about $5 million in sales.''
The business grew rapidly, by about 35 percent a year. Faith Mountain topped $11 million in sales in 1993 and $14.4 million in the fiscal year that ended in June. The company now employs about 100 people and is the county's largest private employer. Another expansion is planned.
When the Woodards sat down a few years ago to map out a business plan, their goal of $25 million in sales made Cheryl Woodard laugh. She's not laughing anymore. She can breathe the words ``$50 million'' and keep a straight face.
Faith Mountain has found its niche in the competitive mail-order industry behind novelty sweaters, seasonal items and decorative country items. Their flags and windsocks are the most-requested items.
``The whole key to the catalog business is having things that people want,'' Cheryl Woodard said. ``We've done a good job of paying attention to what the customers said they wanted, and then tried to make sure we got more of those products.''
Faith Mountain products offer an escape from the real world that whizzes by each day, Martin Woodard said.
The products ``are a feeling of warmth and homeyness. It's almost a reaction to the hostility and rapid changes people have yet to get comfortable with. It's a way they can step back from the world,'' he said.
by CNB