As a youth Jane Blain Gilbertson, the executive chair and sole owner of Janesville-based Blain’s Farm & Fleet, had no plans to join her family’s business.
At BizTimes Media’s annual Family & Closely Held Business Summit, she shared how she went from an uninterested party to the company’s CEO.
Blain Gilbertson’s father and uncle founded Blain’s Farm & Fleet in June of 1955.
After graduating from college, she opted to begin her career at Macy’s as a buyer. There she saw a major difference between her family’s businesses and the big corporation she was working for.
Often, buyers were directed to charge back vendors regardless of if they had made a mistake, she explained.
“I didn’t understand the way they chose to do business,” said Blain Gilbertson. “It’s not the way that I had been raised. My dad and uncle really valued long-term relationships with their vendors.”
Despite being in an unfamiliar world, Blain Gilbertson stayed at Macy’s for several years. Following the death of her mother and a period of consolidation at Macy’s, she decided to return to the family business in 1985. She started out as a children’s apparel buyer.
“My dad, who’s the best negotiator of all time, said, ‘By the way, there’s nothing on order since your mom passed away. Can you be the gift board buyer too? I wasn’t smart enough to ask for more money. I just had two jobs then,” said Blain Gilbertson.
One of the most important lessons she learned from her father was how to differentiate yourself and play to your strengths.
She recalls Wal-Mart opening a store in Janesville, right across from Blain Farm & Fleet’s hometown store.
“(Walmart founder) Sam Walton walked up to my father in our store, kind of pointing at his chest, and said ‘You’re done,’” she said. “My dad didn’t take that well and it was just what he needed to hear.”
From that point on, Blain’s Farm & Fleet focused on differentiating itself from big box competitors. For example, when Wal-Mart started selling boots, Blain Gilbertson said her father cut up a pair of work boots from each shop, Then, he glued the soles of the shoes to a poster board to show customers the difference in quality.
“We weren’t very good at talking about ourselves. It wasn’t a humble thing to do, but we realized we needed to start to let people know that there was a difference,” said Blain Gilbertson.
A period of transition
A few years after Blain Gilbertson returned, two major events impacted Blains Farm & Fleet. Her uncle passed away in 1988 followed by her father in 1993. The remaining family members in the business were left to decide how to move forward.
“The amazing story here is there was no succession plan,” said Blain Gilbertson. “Luckily, everybody at that time was focused on doing what’s right for the business.”
The group was able to sort out respective areas of management for each family member involved in the business.
Despite this positive outcome, Blain Gilbertson promised herself she would never leave her family in that position ever again.
Just five years later, after her uncle’s family said they wanted to leave the business, Blain Gilbertson and her brother, Robert, decided to buy them out.
While some older family members were ready to retire, others were concerned Blain’s Farm & Fleet would not be able to compete with big box stores like Walmart.
“They were very concerned about that,” said Blain Gilbertson. “My brother and I felt differently.”
The siblings ran the business together for 16 years until Robert decided to retire and Blain Gilbertson bought him out.
The company’s chief financial officer gave the duo a suggested figure for the buy-out and let them handle the deal on their own.
“I really appreciate the approach he took, because right off the bat we were already bantering,” she said. “He said here’s a number and we kind of went around and got right back to that number.”
Leading Blain’s Farm & Fleet
Blain Gilbertson served as CEO of her family’s business for 10 years. During that period, one of the things that helped her most was seeking advice from the company’s independent board of directors.
She also spent time researching why her father and uncle used certain business strategies, so she could decide whether those strategies should remain in place.
One example is Blain Farm & Fleet’s strategy to buy its real estate. While the company is steadfast in making financial commitments to a certain community, Blain Gilbertson did consider what using a sale-leaseback structure could do for the business.
“I spent a year of discovery, or rediscovery, that helped me make sense of what has worked all these years,” said Blain Gilbertson.
Stepping aside
Blain Gilbertson stepped down from her role as CEO a year ago, making way for the first non-family member to lead the business.
When she knew she wanted to retire, she made sure she had several years to prepare the right person.
“I didn’t have a specific time frame in mind,” she said. “It was kind of open to four or five years.”
When she met Mark Hastings, the company’s current CEO, she didn’t promise him the role. Instead, she brought him into the company to oversee store operations. From there, he took on additional roles of responsibility. After four years, Hastings became president.
Almost every Saturday for five years, Blain Gilbertson and Hastings would meet for coffee to discuss the business.
“We continued to get more comfortable with each other and we discussed why we did things and how he thought about things,” she said.
Blain Gilbertson also made a point to introduce Hastings to vendors and employees, so they knew that she was comfortable with him.
A few months after Hastings became president, Blain Gilbertson informed her executive leadership team that she would be stepping down and he would become CEO.
“They were not surprised that it was Mark. They were happy it was Mark. They had worked closely with him,” she said.
Now serving as executive chair of the business, Blain Gilbertson said she doesn’t want to put any unnecessary pressure on her two daughters, who work in the company. If one of them wants to become the next leader at Blain’s Farm & Fleet, it will have to be the right thing for them and the company.
“If they want it, it’s going to come from their desire and their abilities and where the company is at that time,” she said.
