Mainebiz

V O L . X X V I I N O. X I I I J U N E 2 8 , 2 0 2 1 28 FA M I LY - OW N E D B U S I N E S S F O C U S With jewelry, it's much deeper. In some instances, you're working with a piece of jewelry that's been in that family's his- tory for a hundred years. Jewelry tells a story: 'is was my grandmother's and it's important to me because I remember her through it.' MB: How do you and your father separate business from personal feelings? MD: You have to separate the fam- ily relationship from the business requirements. A lot of heated discus- sions stemmed from when he elevated me to run the Lewiston location. When he had a new designer line, he'd say, 'We're going to carry this.' I'd say, 'It's beautiful, but we've already budgeted for other things.' If you've been the boss for most of your adult life and now you're stepping back, that's where the tension was. It was probably a good two years of difficulty with that kind of transition. But my dad and I get along like drunken sailors. We'd have a heated discussion. A couple of hours later, we'd cool off and say, 'How can we approach this?' It was just kind of, walk away and spend an hour not talking. MB: How do mixed generations incor- porate new ideas without conflict? MD: e irony is, my higher education background was in computer program- ming and website development. My father was adamant that we have an e-commerce site. I was the one against it. e quality of our product is of the utmost importance. When you're talking about e-commerce, you can't physically see or touch it. It's difficult to educate people about the difference in quality. MB: Why is 'family-owned' impor- tant to you? MD: e standard my grandfather lived by, the reputation he and, by extension, the jewelry store had, has always been a point of pride for our family. J. Dostie Jewelers is known through several generations of Lewiston residents as a landmark. I see people who are fourth- generation customers. Butting heads, but with a common goal W.S. Emerson started in 1921 as a wholesale apparel company in Bangor. Founder Walter Emerson soon hired John Vickery, who helped grow the business. Vickery bought the com- pany in 1952, expanded to Brewer and brought in his brother, Winslow Vickery, as a manager. In 1982, Winslow's sons, John and Russ, became president and vice president and grew the retail and wholesale divisions. By the 1990s, big-box retailers forced many of W.S. Emerson's retail accounts to close. Russ and John pivoted to branded apparel and pro- motional products. In 2013, John's son, John Vickery Jr., took over as president. His wife Betsy is vice president. Mainebiz: How did your family work out the company's succession? John Vickery Jr.: My father could see that Betsy and I were heavily involved. He negotiated with his brother to help secure voting stock for us. at came with a price tag. e process took a couple of years. MB: What's your advice for people looking at succession planning? YourPace Admissions 207.768.9433 umpi-yourpace@maine.edu umpi.edu/yourpace/maol YO U R J O U R N E Y. YO U R PAC E . 100% ONLINE COURSEWORK AFFORDABLE TUITION BUILT-IN FLEXIBILITY INDIVIDUAL ATTENTION REAL-WORLD APPLICATION M A S T E R O F A R T S I N O RGA N I Z AT I O N A L L E A D E R S H I P (MAOL) E A R N YO U R in as soon as 1 year for $12,000 or less! Financial aid eligible for qualified students. » C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E My dad and I get along like drunken sailors. — Michael Dostie J. Dostie Jewelers P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F W. S. E M E R S O N John Vickery Jr. and his wife Betsy are third-generation owners of W.S. Emerson, a branded apparel and promotional products company in Brewer. For succession planning, "Start the conversation early and have a vision where you want to go," he says.

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