Powered by Women: Rachel Stewart, CEO, Gardner White Furniture Co., Warren

One might think growing up in the family that has owned Gardner White Furniture for more than 100 years would predispose company CEO Rachel Steward to a career in the home furnishings business. Not exactly.

After graduating from Andover High School in Bloomfield Township and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, she earned a Master of Science in economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Following graduation, she joined the U.S. Department of Energy in Washington, D.C., where she worked for Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Chu, who was exploring ways to drive down the installed price of solar energy to be competitive with other forms of electricity.

“I don’t know that it was well thought out, but I found it interesting and changing so fast,” Stewart says of her decision to work on clean energy for the government. “There’s all this new technology. It’s changing every day. One thing that appealed to me was you’re surrounded by all of these intellectually curious, smart people, so it’s a fun space to be in.”

After a decade of government work, Stewart thought about starting a solar-related startup company in California, then decided to come home to metro Detroit and work in the family business.

“I was at the point that I was definitely going to leave the Department of Energy,” Stewart recalls. “Once I started digging into the reality of doing a startup, it seemed less sexy. At the same time, there was so much positive activity going on in the city of Detroit. Then my parents (Barbara and Steven Tronstein) were at an inflection point, so it just seemed like a good moment to come back.”

That all happened in 2017. Back in Michigan, Stewart became president of Gardner White. In March 2024, she was appointed CEO when her parents became executive chair and chair of the company.

“One thing I feel strongly about is if you’re going to work in a family business, (it’s helpful) to have outside experience,” Stewart says. “I can’t underscore how important that was for me.”

Although she didn’t work for Gardner White before going to college, she was naturally exposed to the business her entire life. For example, she recalls her family reviewing print ads over the dining room table and discussing business over dinner as she was growing up.

Stewart doesn’t hide from the fact that, as a woman, she’s in the minority in the male-dominated furniture business.

“I think it’s a huge asset,” she says. “Issue No. 1 in the furniture business is that (most of) the customers are female. You’re always going to be better if you actually know your consumer.”

With that perspective, Stewart and her leadership team, which now is 70 percent female, have focused on making the process of buying furniture easier. “We always want to be improving there.”

She notes Gardner White didn’t get to be a female-dominated leadership team overnight.

“The hard part about diversity is people want it fast, but you have to recruit, train, and invest in (recruits) before they become part of your leadership team,” Stewart explains.

“We’ve focused on really cultivating strong leaders, and thankfully a lot of them are women. I’ve found that if you want to get something done, ask a working mother to do it.”

One of the biggest events that’s happened while Stewart has been at the helm of Gardner White was the fall of competitor Art Van Furniture in 2020.

“It was surprising to everyone, us very much included,” Stewart says. “But one of the things we do well is that we’re agile and nimble. It helped with the Art Van situation and it helped during COVID-19.”

Following the demise of Art Van, Gardner White expanded to 13 retail locations throughout metro Detroit (including Art Van’s former headquarters in Warren), Ann Arbor, and Saginaw. Today, the company has more than 1,000 employees.

Another opportunity that arose in the wake of the Art Van bankruptcy was the chance to sponsor the nationally televised America’s Thanksgiving Parade down Woodward Avenue in Detroit.

“They were looking for a sponsor and it’s the best and biggest in the country, so why not be part of that,” Stewart says. “I’ve become its biggest cheerleader. Anytime there’s an opportunity to toot Detroit’s horn, we — Gardner-White and Rachel Stewart — are all in.

“It’s such a cool event and a (big) moment for the city where the most diverse group of people you can imagine comes together, shoulder to shoulder, having a great time.”

In addition to sponsoring the parade, Gardner White is heavily involved in the community, hosting blood drives and the Twinkle Town display, in which holiday trees are decorated by local celebrities and influencers. Ultimately, charities walk away with donations that help them make a positive impact in the region.

“If Michigan’s not in a good place, then neither are we,” Stewart says. “That’s how we approach it.”

In addition to her work responsibilities, Stewart serves on the board of directors for Business Leaders for Michigan, The Parade Co., Math Corps, the Detroit Economic Club, and the American Home Furnishings Hall of Fame Foundation.

Although she’s out of the clean energy business, Stewart still is one of its champions.

“The thing that gets lost in the conversation about clean energy is it’s good business,” she says, recounting a 2014 decision to convert all of Gardner White’s stores to LED lighting.

“One store had a payback in two months, and as a company we had a payback in about a year. Incandescent bulbs are like a furnace, so suddenly the air conditioning didn’t have to work so hard. We’ve done a lot here, and will continue to do a lot. It’s kind of easy because it’s good economics.”

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