Success IN the City: Caroline Hipple

Hipple, who earned her stripes working for $3.15 an hour as a sales associate for the now-defunct This End Up in Richmond, is among only a handful of female leaders in the furniture industry. That world has long been dominated by male heads of family businesses, with women relegated to customer service and design roles.

Hipple, 50, a voracious reader of Jane Austen, is a product of an all-girls high school and college where “you just didn’t know you couldn’t do anything.” Since joining Storehouse in 2000, she has raised the chain’s profile from 42 stores in 14 states to 70 stores in 17 states from New Jersey to Texas. Sales ballooned from $89 million in 2000 to an expected $160 million this year, despite financial problems at Storehouse’s parent company, Rowe Companies.

Home Magazine named Storehouse the 2003 retailer of the year. Last year, Hipple was named entrepreneur of the year by Catalog Success magazine.

Hipple also serves on the board and was a founding member of WithIt (Women in the Home Industries Today), a nonprofit headquartered in High Point, N.C., that develops mentoring and career opportunities for women in the home furnishings industry.

When she’s not playing golf, serving on the board of the all-girls St. Catherine’s School in Richmond or jet-setting across the globe in search of exotic patterns to reproduce, Hipple is enjoying the comforts of her 1919 Arts and Crafts bungalow in Buckhead.

On Storehouse’s home turf, Hipple is planning a 10,000-square-foot expansion of the original Buckhead store (3106 Early St.) into a clearance center and retail outlet, and a renovation of the Lenox Square store, both to be completed by the fall. Two more Intown stores are in the works.

As a full-line furnishings retailer that ranks among the top 100 U.S. furniture companies, Storehouse already sells furniture, rugs, lighting, draperies, accessories and wall decor using modern, clean lines. Chandeliers and tableware will be introduced over the next few months.

“I don’t want fluorescent lights and wide aisles,” said Hipple, referring to low-priced competitors like Costco and Wal-Mart. “I want to feel the soul of the person who is buying these products.”

An art history major at Hollins University in Roanoke, Va., Hipple beams when discussing interior design. It’s easy to imagine her as a 10-year-old girl window-shopping for her birthday, making mental notes on how to create ambiance in a room.

After graduating from college, Hipple worked at an investment banking firm in Washington, D.C., spending evenings and weekends at This End Up, calming irate customers late into the night.

“It’s economically more profitable to care,” she said. “It’s emotionally harder.”

At 23, she was promoted to district manager with nine stores. Within five years, she had opened 86 stores, eventually rising to executive vice president. After 23 years, Hipple left This End Up in 1999 and discussed job prospects with the leaders of the top three furniture companies. Everybody wanted a “token girl,” she said.

In the end, she joined the McLean, Va.-based Rowe, which had bought Storehouse in 1999. Almost immediately, she was responsible for merging Rowe’s Home Elements brand with Storehouse.

Hipple refers to herself as the “chief energy officer,” aware that Storehouse’s 700 employees are critical to the success of the company. One time, an assistant manager burst into tears, apparently overwhelmed that Hipple had remembered her name.

Storehouse’s target audience is made up of well-educated customers – in their 30s to 50s – looking for stylish and mid-priced furniture, according to customer surveys. They also shop at Restoration Hardware, Pottery Barn and Crate & Barrel. Hipple has helped change the image of Storehouse from a 30-year-old retailer that specialized in bookcases and spare, cool design to one that promotes a warmer, energetic mix of modern furnishings, she said. The company started distributing a catalog two years ago. Last year, it began selling merchandise online.

Hipple prefers to seek consensus in decision-making, but she will step in as the tie-breaker if needed, said Dixon Bartlett, Storehouse’s senior vice president of merchandising and marketing.

Bartlett has worked with Hipple for 29 years, serving as her boss for a time at This End Up. He described her as a humble but charismatic leader with an authentic style. This past Christmas, Hipple labored over her special sugar cookies, Bartlett said, which looked and tasted like works of art.

“She has the inner strength to see the goal through in the face of some tough odds,” he said of Hipple’s leadership.

Hipple moved to Atlanta – a hub for home decor – less than two years ago with her husband, J.R., who is a management consultant, and their two dogs. The couple entertain frequently and, aside from Hipple’s travels for business, they are constantly exploring new spots and old haunts.

In 2005 alone, she went to Florence, Paris, Delhi, Rajasthan, Thailand, Vietnam and Denmark – not to mention routine trips to New York City and High Point and the 15 store openings in 16 months. Always eager to explore, she gets her hair cut in Grant Park to get acquainted with another part of the city.

The couple decided to incorporate all the things they had loved about their five previous homes, including natural light and simplicity. The toffee-colored entryway, butter cream hallways and milk chocolate living room with espresso floors play on Hipple’s passion for food – and she’s an excellent cook who is comfortable entertaining her wide range of friends. A feng shui consultant advised Hipple on balancing rough and smooth elements, unifying her home with color and texture. Ponte glass tables huddle next to a mohair sofette. Much of the furniture is from Storehouse, including a Kensington pub table, a tall, linen-upholstered headboard in the master bedroom, and a distressed white “concerto” table that doubles as a sofa table and breakfast nook. Hipple even enlisted MAACO, the auto-painting company, to spray paint an old armoire silver. The backyard features a lap pool and bocce court, perfect for inviting 106 of Hipple’s closest colleagues.

Like Hipple herself, the house appears modest from the front. Step inside, though, and it will reveal its surprises.