Coronet founder Bud Seretean dies - Entrepreneur, sportsman, philanthropist
BOCA RATON, FLA.—He had a storied career that spanned more than a half century and included founding a major carpet mill, sharing ownership of two professional sports franchises, advocating national awareness of personal health and physical fitness, and contributing millions of dollars to worthy causes. Bud Seretean was the quintessential businessman, an inspirational leader and a dedicated humanitarian. While he was in London on Aug. 13, he died of a brain aneurism. He was 83.
The centerpiece of his brilliant career was Coronet Industries, which catapulted him into a pre-eminent position in the business world. He was highly esteemed and always admired by colleagues and competitors. He was a visionary and the definitive businessman with an uncanny grasp of strategy and an abiding resolve to succeed. In his earliest years he was conscious of his destiny, constantly challenging himself and pursuing his goals relentlessly.
Born Martin B. Seretean in New York City on May 13, 1924, he graduated from high school and was set for college when World War II broke out. In 1942, at age 18, he enlisted in the Army and served as a field artillery officer in the European Theater of Operations. When he was discharged from the service in 1947, he was a First Lieutenant in charge of all the Post Exchanges in Italy. He immediately entered Oklahoma State University and graduated in the top 5% of his class and won virtually every award in the school. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing in 1949 and went on to graduate school at New York University, where he received a Master of Science degree in Retailing in 1950, and that began The Seretean Saga.
That same year, he was hired by Abraham & Straus, the Brooklyn department store as an executive trainee and three months later when the assistant buyer of floor coverings resigned, Seretean was chosen to replace him because “they needed a big kid who could carry rugs around and I was the biggest guy there,” he explained in a 1983 interview. The following year, he left A&S and became the floor covering buyer for Allied Stores, which entailed making trips to Dalton. One of his sources was Katherine Rug Mills and he became very friendly with Said Shaheen, who was producing scatter rugs and about to enter the broadloom business. In 1953, he was offered the job of sales manager and Seretean headed south. The job paid $12,000 a year.
He needed a place to live in Dalton and Shaheen took him to the home of Mrs. Dixie Bandy, where she rented him a room for $30 a month, which included breakfast. After three years with Katherine, he increased sales from $2 million to $6 million, built an effective sales force and moved the company seamlessly into broadloom—and increased his salary to $18,000 a year. But he wanted more. He wanted to buy equity in the company, 5%, 10%. Shaheen wanted to keep it a family business and so Seretean decided to start his own carpet business.
He spoke with Jack Bandy, Dixie Bandy’s son, who had become a friend, and Guy Henley, and both agreed to join him. The three men pooled $45,000, more than $20,000 came from Seretean— virtually all of his savings. In August of 1956, Coronet Carpet Co. was born with Seretean as president. The three men shared a single phone at a common desk, and with just four employees embarked on one of the most successful journeys in the annals of the carpet industry. With Bandy in finance and Henley in production and Seretean handling the marketing and selling responsibilities, the company survived an uncertain first year and began to grow in both sales and profits, year after year. In 1962, Coronet hit $30 million in sales, and the partners decided to take the company public, the first tufting company to do so.
The mill continued to grow and its stock continued to rise. In 1971, the stock hit $30 a share and suddenly Coronet was being pursued by corporate giants. In March of that year, Radio Corporation of America (RCA) acquired Coronet for $181 million, according to Fortune magazine. His roughly six million shares at $30 a share, when transferred, made him RCA’s biggest single stockholder with 1,537,439 shares held by him and members of his family. In 1973, Seretean became chairman of the board of Coronet Industries and a member of the RCA board of directors. He remained with Coronet until its divestiture in the mid 1980s.
Though Seretean remained in touch with the carpet industry and his many friends in it, after his active days came to an end he sought other outlets for his energy and business interests. After he sold his custom-built home in Chattanooga and relocated to Boca Raton, he went back to work.
He co-founded Opti World in Atlanta and eventually sold it to Lens Crafters; he co-founded ABC-TV affiliate WGXA in Macon, Ga., and he was founder and chairman of Nova Laser Light Surgery Centers. But his greatest love was sports, and he spent decades involved with professional sports teams in Atlanta. From 1975 to 1977, he was a co-owner of the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks and was its president and general manager. When the franchise was sold to Ted Turner, Seretean was appointed to the boards of the Hawks, the Atlanta Braves and Turner Broadcasting Systems (TBS) and served on all three for 20 years. In September of 2003, Seretean was among a group of investors who formed Atlanta Spirit LLC and purchased from TBS and its parent company AOL Time Warner, the NHL’s Atlanta Thrashers, the Hawks and operating rights to the Philips Arena. Eventually, irreconcilable differences among the partners resulted in some, including Seretean, leaving the group.
Seretean was an ardent advocate of wellness and physical fitness, for himself and for others. Conflating his dedication to health causes and his commitment to philanthropy, he has contributed millions of dollars to humanitarian causes. He financed the Seretean Wellness Center and the Seretean Center for the Performing Arts at his alma mater, Oklahoma State University. And at Emory University in Atlanta, he established the M.B. Seretean Center for Health Promotion. He spent his later years lecturing on health and wellness and found time to author a book, “Living Healthy to 100: A Wellness Program for Seniors.”
Seretean received numerous awards and many honors in his career. He received an honorary Doctorate Degree from OSU, was named Outstanding Small Businessman in 1965, elected to the World Floor Covering Association Industry Hall of Fame, inducted into the OSU College of Business Hall of Fame, winner of the first Lifetime Achievement Award of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and countless others. He served on many boards, including the University of Chatanooga Foundation, OSU, Southwestern at Memphis, Rockefeller University Council and Boys’ Clubs of America. He was president of the Tufted Textile Manufacturers Association (forerunner of the Carpet & Rug Institute), president of the Chattanooga Jewish Welfare Federation, president of the Chattanooga Jewish Community Center and president of the Board of Governors of OSU.
His earliest ambition was to become a trumpet player, but he became the grand maestro of the carpet industry. Bud Seretean never had the need to blow his own horn, he once said, “The measure of a man’s true success is not his money or his position, what is most important is what he does that improves society and helps his fellow man.”
Survivors include his fiancé, Judy Murata; daughters, Tracy Seretean, Amanda Grossman and Patricia Seretean; son, Scott Seretean; stepson, Mark Warner; grandchildren, Farol, Arden and Derek Seretean, and sisters, Zella Witt and Rhoda Naidus.
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