Office furniture industry icon Paul Brayton died July 29, 2019 of complications arising from a long, arduous battle with Parkinson’s Disease. This is too late to be an obituary, but until recently I was unaware of his death and since learning of it I’ve spoken to several other industry friends who hadn’t
read or heard of it either; his many friends and colleagues over the years should know of his passing. And certainly, his colorful personality and many contributions deserve an officeinsight story in memoriam.
Mr. Brayton’s wife and partner of 37 years, Gwen Inghram Brayton passed away in 1997, and he never remarried. The couple had five children – Krista Allen, Dr. Lynn Brayton, Steve Brayton, Lisa Brayton and Kim Adcock, and ten grandchildren.
Paul was originally from Burlington, IA, and even though he lived in High Point, NC, most of his adult life, he considered Burlington his hometown, returning there often. Ultimately, he bought and renovated an historic house in Burlington overlooking the Mississippi River. Designed by Chicago prairie school architect, George Washington Maher, the 10,000 square foot house had been built in 1915 and had suffered through a fire and some less than artful “renovations.” Gwen Brayton worked with a local Burlington designer to restore the Brayton’s secondary home to a showcase level.
Always a man of high energy and an entrepreneurial spirit, early in the marriage, with kids coming along apace, Paul held down four jobs – at a retail furniture store, a dry-cleaners, a weekend furniture delivery service, and late-night at a bar. During those early years he was getting by on about four hours of sleep per night.
As if four jobs weren’t enough, he also bought and sold cars on the side.
Later in life he was an avid (if that’s a strong enough word) collector of cars, with a penchant for the most expensive, classic brands; Rolls Royce, Mercedes Benz, Porsche and Ferrari to name a few.
Paul entered the contract furniture industry working for Lehigh Leopold, where he was hired into a management training program with stints working as a trainee in the factory, as a time study apprentice, as a customer service representative and ultimately “graduating” to outside sales. Covering Michigan, Indiana and Kentucky, he traveled 50,000 miles a year by car and tripled the sales in his territory in two years.
In 1966 Paul was “discovered” by John Davis Jr. of Davis Furniture Industries. (see officeinsight February 18,2019) Mr. Davis offered Paul a position as general manager, responsible for manufacturing and sales operations throughout the United States. It was while working at Davis that Paul really fell in love with the office furniture industry, and even though he loved working for John Davis, that entrepreneurial itch had to be scratched. So, in 1971 he struck out on his own, founding L. Paul Brayton Ltd., manufacturing lighting, planters and accessories. While that company met with some success, even selling planters to the Nixon White House, Paul was anxious to return to manufacturing office furniture.
In 1973 Mr. Brayton joined with a High Point acquaintance, Hollis Black, to found Brayton International Collection. Mr. Black was a highly respected operations man at one of the High Point furniture companies, and he took responsibility for manufacturing operations, while Mr. Brayton concentrated on marketing, sales and finance.
A breakthrough for the fledgling company came when Mr. Brayton met Robert Knoll the owner of the Walter Knoll Company in Germany. The two hit it off and Brayton International became the North American Licensee of Walter Knoll. The agreement was that Brayton would manufacture the designs of the Walter Knoll Company in High Point to the German company’s exacting standards. The arrangement worked out well for both companies fueling very rapid, profitable growth.
As is typical of Paul Brayton’s story, the Braytons and the Knolls became close personal friends as well as business partners. They travelled and vacationed together in both Europe and the U.S., and when Robert Knoll wanted his son, Michael, to gain experience in the industry he came to work at Brayton International, living for a time with the Brayton family.
The combination of excellent designs manufactured to the highest quality along with Paul Brayton’s marketing and selling skills built an excellent reputation and brand recognition within the workplace design community. It also produced double-digit growth though the 70s and 80s. And the combination of reputation and growth attracted the attention of Steelcase when it decided to improve its position at the design-end of the market through acquisition.
Mr. Brayton brushed-off the initial approach by Steelcase. He was enjoying success, calling his own shots and making money – what’s not to like? So Steelcase upped the ante – not necessarily the monetary ante – but rather by calling-in Bob Pew himself. Mr. Pew charmed Mr. Brayton, as he was wont to do, and in the end Brayton International became a subsidiary of Steelcase in 1987.
Without having been there, it seems obvious that Mr. Brayton also charmed Mr. Pew, because once Steelcase completed the acquisition of Vecta, Metro, DesignTex and Atelier International (ai) along with Brayton, it formed the Steelcase Design Partnership (SDP) and made Paul Brayton the president and CEO of the group. Note: subsequently, Stow Davis, which was already owned by Steelcase and Details (an internal start-up), joined what was to ultimately be the Steelcase Design Partnership until the structural changes that created Coalesse.
Mr. Brayton was president and CEO of the SDP for eight years, retiring in 1995. In recognition of his career and his many contributions to the commercial design industry Mr. Brayton was awarded an honorary PhD by Kendall College in Grand Rapids, MI.
Upon his retirement he devoted himself to commercial development in High Point and to various philanthropic activities. Wanting to focus his philanthropy on the local High Point community he made significant contributions to the High Point Community Foundation. Joining with his wife and children, they established “Women in Motion” within the foundation.
Its website says, “Women in Motion of High Point is a volunteer-led initiative of the High Point Community Foundation and the L. Paul Brayton family, formed to enable women, and men, to combine charitable donations and provide significant grants focused on the critical needs of women, children and families living in the greater High Point community.”
In an officeinsight telephone interview Steve Brayton said, “Women in Motion helps women make that next step up in life. Whether it’s from a factory worker to an office position or from an office worker to a vice president or from a vice president to president, the purpose is to help women in the immediate High Point area have the resources they need to move up. My dad always felt like he made the money there so he should support the local area.”
On the commercial development side, he was active by himself and with various partnerships in buying, renovating, leasing and selling buildings; primarily in High Point. His largest project was the Showplace in the High Point Market Center, for which he led the commissioning of the design and construction of what has become a landmark of the High Point furniture Market.
Paul Brayton stands as an example of the American Dream. He succeeded in building a fortune for himself and his family while freely sharing his drive, vision, knowledge and ultimately a significant part of that fortune with those around him.
