When Eric Graham became president of Baker-McGuire last year, he was joining a business that dates back to the late 1890s. The North Carolina–based furniture company’s previous leader, Mike Jolly, was retiring, and Graham—whose family has been in the furniture business for three generations—came on from a role overseeing the furniture category at Surya. “I go back to when I was literally 7 years old on family holiday trips to Minnesota with my grandfather, and we walk through a store in Minnesota called Gabberts, and he’s pointing out different product lines. The one that stuck in my head was Baker. My grandfather said that’s the best furniture there is,” he tells host Dennis Scully on the latest episode of The Business of Home Podcast.

“Baker has [been around for] 136 years,” he adds. “That heritage is amazing and sets a course for where you are today. I think it’s wrong to try to do anything that takes [the focus] off of what that brand has stood for all that time. The styles and things that are relevant to customers are always evolving, but people have an expectation that Baker’s going to speak to that heritage, that craft, the quality—and deviating from that, I think, is really dangerous. I’ve adopted what the Boy Scouts say: ‘Leave it better than you found it.’”

Graham wants to balance that rich heritage with awareness among the next generation of consumers as he navigates the brand’s next steps. “One of the biggest challenges for a 136-year-old company is you can’t rest on your laurels—meaning you can’t rest on the fact that you’ve been around that long, so you’re just known and people just come to you. That doesn’t work, right? I think the big challenge right now for a brand that’s 136, or McGuire that’s [nearly] 80, is trying to figure out how we engage with new eyes. It may be just planting an idea, a thought, a narrative about your brand that when you’re ready, we’re here,” he says.

Elsewhere in the episode, Graham discusses Baker-McGuire’s made-to-order versus inventory model, the evolution of the design center, how he wants to use AI in the company, and the launches planned for the upcoming High Point.

Crucial insight: Graham has leaned on designers for feedback about Baker-McGuire product to shape his early moves at the brand. “You’ve got to invite it—to say, ‘You’re not going to hurt my feelings,’” he says. “Paying accolades is great, but go ahead and tell me what we’re doing wrong, or tell me what the other parts of the industry are doing better, and let us know that, because as we’re trying to navigate this space and time, we really need to pay attention to what they think we’re doing—or in [some cases] not doing.”

Key quote: “I think as an industry, we ran toward technology like it’s going to save everything, and catalogs are going to go away, and there was a time when people were saying they thought that maybe sales reps are going to go away, and that it’s just going to be transactional on a computer. That’s not come to reality. You’ve got a need to interact and engage with people at a personal, human level.”

This episode is sponsored by Loloi and Maiden Home. Listen to the show below. If you like what you hear, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

The Thursday Show

Host Dennis Scully and BOH editor in chief Kaitlin Petersen discuss the biggest news in the design world, including a new tariff lawsuit, Wayfair’s surprisingly strong quarter, and why Ralph Pucci just made its first acquisition. Later, the founders of e-commerce home furnishings brand Pepper Home join the show.

This episode is sponsored by Joon Loloi and Lutron. Listen to the show below. If you like what you hear, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.