I've read a number of wildly inaccurate conjectures about my involvement with the family business that I would like to clear up.
For instance, the idea that my father retired and I took over the business is utter nonsense. At one time my title was general manager, but I had far more responsibility than authority. That started around '94 and ended around '97-98 and I only briefly worked for the company again for few months around 2001 but have been utterly uninvolved since that time.
The only changes I made to the company would be something noticed by companies like "Cuestix" and "Cue & Case" some time around '94, when the company's back orders changed from being generally 8 months out to being 2 week delivery. This changed over a period of roughly a month and a half. Those companies made their business from being warehouses for Meucci's long back-order time and zero customer communication and so would likely remember this sudden change. They may also remember a massive reduction in warpage and other manufacturing inconsistencies that sharply fell off around the same period.
The only other noticeable impact I may have had on the company was the that I had been involved in the design of the SE series since I was a young teen, providing the initial suggestion to use semi-precious stones again (selecting them) and giving some minor design input as part of my training.
Any allegations that I reduced quality are particularly absurd given the fact that the reasons for my departure from the company were closely tied with fighting over my quality standards which were considered too perfectionist and wasteful for a hand-made product. It was this in combination with consistently not being allowed to keep higher stocks of sub-assemblies and finished products and the heated disagreements over how the business should be run that eventually led to me pursuing a career outside the family business I was raised in. The end of the story is that I was never allowed to impact the business or it's practices in fundamental ways and even given my successes in management other fields, including the white collar corporate field, the company has never welcomed me back.
I have, in recent years, asked to run the company, as I was raised my entire young life to do, with the stipulation that I be allowed to do it my own way and was flatly refused. So please make no mistake, I have had little to do with the company in the distant past, nothing to do with it in the recent past, and will likely have nothing to do with it in any foreseeable future.
My youngest sister, however, has been intimately involved with the company during the entirety of the past 30 years and will likely inherit the business, so please direct any conjecture or questions towards her.
For instance, the idea that my father retired and I took over the business is utter nonsense. At one time my title was general manager, but I had far more responsibility than authority. That started around '94 and ended around '97-98 and I only briefly worked for the company again for few months around 2001 but have been utterly uninvolved since that time.
The only changes I made to the company would be something noticed by companies like "Cuestix" and "Cue & Case" some time around '94, when the company's back orders changed from being generally 8 months out to being 2 week delivery. This changed over a period of roughly a month and a half. Those companies made their business from being warehouses for Meucci's long back-order time and zero customer communication and so would likely remember this sudden change. They may also remember a massive reduction in warpage and other manufacturing inconsistencies that sharply fell off around the same period.
The only other noticeable impact I may have had on the company was the that I had been involved in the design of the SE series since I was a young teen, providing the initial suggestion to use semi-precious stones again (selecting them) and giving some minor design input as part of my training.
Any allegations that I reduced quality are particularly absurd given the fact that the reasons for my departure from the company were closely tied with fighting over my quality standards which were considered too perfectionist and wasteful for a hand-made product. It was this in combination with consistently not being allowed to keep higher stocks of sub-assemblies and finished products and the heated disagreements over how the business should be run that eventually led to me pursuing a career outside the family business I was raised in. The end of the story is that I was never allowed to impact the business or it's practices in fundamental ways and even given my successes in management other fields, including the white collar corporate field, the company has never welcomed me back.
I have, in recent years, asked to run the company, as I was raised my entire young life to do, with the stipulation that I be allowed to do it my own way and was flatly refused. So please make no mistake, I have had little to do with the company in the distant past, nothing to do with it in the recent past, and will likely have nothing to do with it in any foreseeable future.
My youngest sister, however, has been intimately involved with the company during the entirety of the past 30 years and will likely inherit the business, so please direct any conjecture or questions towards her.
