Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1479836
92 JEFFREY ARCARI AND JULIE ARCARI COOK Most family businesses don't make it beyond a second generation, but those family businesses aren't run by Jeff Arcari and Julie Arcari Cook, a brother and sister team who are co-owners along with their brother Jay and co-CEOs of Landry & Arcari Rugs and Carpeting. Over the decades, Landry & Arcari has become synonymous with finely crafted, one-of-a-kind handmade rugs, broadloom carpeting, and antique rugs from across the globe. Jeff travels around the world working with weavers in countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Nepal to design private-production rugs that buyers and designers can't find anywhere else. "Even on the internet it's hard to find specialty rugs," Jeff says. Landry & Arcari specifies everything from the colors, to the design, to the materials, to the dyeing process when working with these weavers. "All those little ingredients are what make the end result special." However, the personal connection Jeff has with the weavers is the extra piece that adds something special to the final product. "It's the collaboration between us and the weavers that really makes it unique," Julie says. "He's established partnerships and relationships that have lasted many years." They help support weavers and their families through education and literacy programs in Pakistan and Afghanistan. In fact, Julie is on the board of the nonprofit Barakat World that runs schools in those countries. All of that translates to the overall customer experience. "We really pride ourselves in creating a really positive, fun, educational, no-barriers-up customer experience," Julie says. WHAT INSPIRES YOU? Jeff: What inspires me in this business is . . . the kind of serendipitous nature of rugs. You never know what you're going to see. If you think about it, these are personal expressions, this is art. Art on the floor, art underfoot. Often you will see in tribal weaving very, very esoteric unique things that you've never seen before. I look at 100 or 200 new rugs a day. I see lots of rugs, and I'm always amazed that I'm able to see something I haven't seen. That inspires me, that thrill of coming to work and not knowing exactly what I'm going to see. WHAT'S YOUR PROUDEST ACCOMPLISHMENT? Julie: My proudest accomplishment is growing this business. I think family businesses tend not to succeed beyond a second and third generation, and I am so proud that we have been able to work together and go through all the ups and downs of our family, of the economy. We've been able to stick together, stick to our goals, and our vision for the company and our family values. WHAT'S YOUR BEST MISTAKE? Jeff: The best mistake is buying a rug that probably won't sell, but I have to have it because it's so funky. NICHOLAS YEBBA, SR., AND NICHOLAS YEBBA, JR. Nicholas Yebba, Sr., had already "retired" (i.e., sold his incredibly successful, international car rental business) when he and his son, Nick Jr., opened Teresa's Italian Eatery in Middleton 16 years ago. To say that the restaurant was successful is an understatement. "I'm gonna be honest with you," Nick Sr. says. "It took off like a bat out of hell." Today, Nick Sr. is president and owner of Teresa's Hospitality Group, which has several restaurants under its umbrella, and Nick Jr. is partner and executive chef, and even after all these years, Nick Sr. says working with his son is wonderful. "It was the best thing I ever did," he says. "We haven't had a bad day yet." WHAT DOES COMMUNITY MEAN TO YOU? Community's very important to us. It's made up of our friends, family, people that we do business with, people that we respect. People are important to us, and that's what community is. We try to do everything we can to pitch in and help as much as we can with anything that comes up in this community. We respect community. The people here are great. We've met a lot of really good people up here in Middleton. WHAT IS YOUR BEST BUSINESS ADVICE? I think many times people go into business with the wrong idea. If you're going to go into business, you've got to love whatever you're going to do. You've got to sleep it, eat it, drink it, you really do. You can't go into business thinking you're going to hit the home run the first day out, or you're going to become rich and famous overnight because that doesn't work. What does work is putting your head down and working every day, trying to build your customers, trying to build your business, and you know something? If you do that right, it just comes along; it almost comes automatically. You've got to love what you do. It's got to be in your blood, it's got to be in your veins. WHAT'S YOUR LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY? I have to be involved with everything. Even with the car rental [business], as big as it was, I have to know what's going on from the top all the way to the bottom. I've got to see if whatever we're doing in the executive boardroom is going all the way down to the person that's buying the sandwich at the restaurant, that we're making them happy. A lot of people like to sit at a big desk and call all the shots. Well, I like to sit at the desk and talk to my people because they know sometimes more than I do. That's another thing I do. I like to hire people much smarter than myself. PHOTOGRAPHS, LEFT TO RIGHT BY JOEL BENJAMIN, BY MATT STONE PHOTOGRAPHY