Many mourn a figure they described as not only passionate about the industry, but one who also was empathetic in the way he interacted with employees and suppliers
FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. — The passing of Thomas “Tom” Walter Lias has had many in the industry mourning a long-time loyal and committed business partner they described as tough yet empathetic as he sought solutions that would benefit both his company and his suppliers.
Lias, a 50-plus-year industry veteran who was chief executive officer of Gorman’s Home Furnishings & Interior Design in Michigan, died this past Saturday, June 15, in Winter Garden, Florida. He was 77.
Lias was born and raised in Youngstown, Ohio, and graduated from Chaney High School, also in Youngstown. He then entered the U.S. Army, serving as a drill sergeant, and later attended Youngstown State University and the School of Design at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh.
In 1983, he joined Gorman’s and worked his way up the company ranks to become president in 1996 and chief executive officer in 2017, retiring in June 2023.
The company said that under his leadership, he developed the move to its “100 Brands” strategy that expanded its line to include major names such as Bernhardt, Hooker, Lexington Home Brands, Stickley, Hekman, Hanco*ck & Moore, Century, American Leather, Universal, Sherrill, Sam Moore, Theodore Alexander, Hickory White and others. Many of these brands represent the retailer’s focus on upper-middle to upper-end price points that combined a mix of domestic upholstery and imported along with some domestic case goods.
Alex Bernhardt Jr., president and chief executive officer of Bernhardt Furniture, said he had known Lias close to 20 years.
“Tom Lias was as fine a gentleman as I have ever met in the industry. I really loved the guy,” he told Home News Now. “He really loved the business, and he had such an effect on our business. We had tough conversations, you know, as customer and vendor type of relations and you are always going to have those things. But he always tried to find a win-win situation. Even when things were tough, he always had a positive outlook. I always felt that he was trying to get to a place that was good for both of us.”
He also described him as a leader who thought about where his business — and the business of his supplier — were headed, adding that he also was a big help in pointing out strengths and areas for improvement.
“You are going to hear these words from a lot of people — integrity, honesty — about him, but he also was very strategic about everything he talked about,” Bernhardt said. “He was always thinking a year down the road . He was never thinking about what was going to happen today. It was always about where is our business going? And where is your business going? But he was a real big fan of our brand, and he would come in and know exactly what we had done with branding over the past year and he would say ‘You did this really well. And I think you can work on X and you could build your brand if you did these things.’ He would never give suggestions that weren’t good. So I welcome the time that I got to spend with him — any time I did get to spend with him.”
Earlier in his career, Lias co-owned and was president of La-Z-Boy stores in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. He also was a sales representative, general manager and vice president for several Michigan Ethan Allen stores and also was Michigan and Ohio marketing manager for the company.
Kevin O’Connor first worked with Lias at Ethan Allen during the early 1970s. He later would work with him as a vendor in his executive roles at Samson Marketing, which include the Legacy Classic | Modern, Universal and Craftmaster brands.
“Tom and I were both at Ethan Allen earlier in our careers,” O’Connor told Home News Now. “He was a terrific guy and a real student of the business, someone who loved the business and who did very well with it.”
He later came to work with Lias during his tenure at Gorman’s, mostly through Universal, although Gorman’s also sells Craftmaster upholstery, according to its website.
“He was a guy that you could talk to about trends, styling and what was working and not working at retail,” O’Connor said. “He was always a straight shooter. If he had a problem, he would tell you. But he was always a gentleman. He was a terrific individual and a guy I respected a lot for his knowledge of the business.”
O’Connor said that he and Lias also shared a common admiration for Pat Norton, the legendary late chairman of La-Z-Boy and a former vice president of sales at Ethan Allen.
“We were both fans of Pat Norton, who was a mentor to a lot of us over the years, starting at Ethan Allen and later La-Z-Boy,” O’Connor said, adding, “We shared that Pat connection. I was very close to Pat who was my second father and a great friend.”
Of Lias, he said, they went separate ways after Ethan Allen, but that he reconnected with him as one of Gorman’s accounts.
“I would see Tom more at markets when I became involved with Universal at Samson Marketing,” O’Connor said. “I got to know him more at that point. He was a very good Universal customer and helped us move the company from being more commercial to where it is as one of the more stylized and leading brands that it is today. He will be missed.”
Alex Reeves, president of Craftmaster, said he knew Lias for 25 years, years that also included Reeve’s service in executive roles at Sam Moore, Precedent and Hickory Hill.
“He was a great man and a great merchant,” Reeves said. “He had a great eye for furniture design and quality and understood value.”
But like others, he also described him as a true gentleman, who always made plenty of time to spend at your showroom over the years to see and discuss new product.
“He would make you work for the business and earn it, and I really felt like I did that in my early years,” Reeves said, noting that it took some time to learn Lias’ preferences as a retailer. “And then, after I had known him for a while, I would take him right to the things that would be a value to him. I wouldn’t waste his time.
“He always saw where the value was and always made time to put what I was selling into his lineup,” Reeves added.
Phil Haney, president and chief executive officer at Lexington Home Brands, said he had known Lias for more than 20 years both professionally and personally.
“Tom is one of the finest people I have known with a loving commitment to his family and the company that he successfully managed, along with Bernie and John Moray and Jeff Roberts,” Haney shared in Lias’ obituary. “Tom was also a mentor to me and was happy to share his insights and observations about our industry and helped me better understand the supplier/customer relationship from a collaborative point of view. I will miss Tom greatly and send my deepest sympathy to his wife, Chris, their son David and their extended family.”
Jeremy Hoff, chief executive officer at Hooker Furnishings, said he too knew Lias for more than 20 years, and in roles ranging from his time as a sales rep earlier in his career to his executive roles at A.R.T. Furniture, Theodore Alexander and Hooker. Describing him as a gentleman who will be sorely missed, he said that over the many years, his working relationship with Lias evolved into a friendship.
Hoff also respected his dedication for the industry, from the effort and passion he devoted to the marketing side of the business to his level of integrity, intellect and honesty.
Hoff also recalled how sometimes tough negotiations would evolve into moments of levity and lightheartedness.
“He would give me a hard time, and I would say, ‘There’s no need for a drill sergeant in the furniture business.’ And then he would start laughing.”
Bernhardt, of Bernhardt Furniture, agreed that Lias could be tough, but said he was always fair.
“The conversations you have in the showroom about pricing and distribution and things like this are always somewhat tense,” he said. “But because I believed in him and believed in his integrity, I believed in trying to find a win-win situation for both of us. Our business at Gorman’s has always been important. … He always had the needs of his business and our business in mind, and he would try to find a solution.”
Neil McKenzie, director of product development at Hekman Furniture, said he knew Lias since the 1990s, when McKenzie was vice president of sales at Baker. He described him asgentleman and a role model.
“If you listened to him, you would learn a lot,” McKenzie said. “He might not be sitting there meaning to teach you something, but he was very detail oriented and always explained his thoughts and you learned a lot from that.”
And along with his good communications and mentoring skills came another positive trait: staying true to his word.
“If he said he was going to do something, he would do it,” McKenzie said. “It might not be right then, but he would do it. His word was gold. He always had a plan on the table for the next season and he was always good at communicating that plan and how you could fit into it.”
Perhaps most importantly, many in the industry will remember him for the way he interacted with them as a person and left them feeling after the meeting.
“Tom was a keen businessman, a thoughtful leader and most importantly, a good person and partner,” said Alex Shuford III, chief executive officer of the Rock House Farm brands that include Century, Hickory Chair, Maitland-Smith, Hanco*ck & Moore and others. He said he knew Lias for about 17 years.
“ I remember as a young seller how he generously spent time with me helping to close the empathy gap between the retailer and the manufacturer,” Shuford added. “The industry has lost a gentleman and a merchant.”
“He had incredible empathy,” added Alex Bernhardt Jr. “And to me empathy is the greatest quality a human being can have. He just always put himself in other people’s shoes whether it was his employees, his vendors, his suppliers or his competitors. He had a great sense of empathy for all of us, and that is the most wonderful type of person to deal with — someone who can see a bigger perspective than their own perspective.”
According to his obituary, Tom Lias was a passionate golfer and bowler, “clinching his first perfect 300 game at the age of 18 years old.” He also received many honors including The Detroit News naming him as a Michiganian of the Year in 2022 for his “significant contributions to the nonprofit community.”
It went on to note his more than 12-year involvement on the Arc of Oakland County board of directors, including as president. As part of his service on that board, he was described as being instrumental in the rebranding of The Arc’s Forever Plan, which supports individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities after their parents or guardians can no longer take care of them.
“Tom is survived by his beloved wife of 42 years, Christine “Chris,” and his cherished son, David; brother Charles (Barb) Lias of Boardman, Ohio, Uncle Dock (Barb) Lias of Leesburg, Florida, and many much-loved brothers-in-law and sisters-in-laws and nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his parents Charles Lias and Annette Hadley Lias,” the obituary continued. “Tom will be remembered as a loving husband, father, friend, visionary leader and compassionate advocate.”
A celebration of Tom’s life will be announced at a future date. Contributions may be made to The Arc of Oakland County (https://www.thearcoakland.org/) or the National Fragile X Foundation (https://fragilex.org/) in Tom’s memory.
