Carolina Rustica's growth would make any retailer google-eyed

When Richard Sexton turned to Google to help market Carolina Rustica on a national basis, his business took off. Between 2005 and 2006 the home furnishings retailer grew 50 percent.

He has registered literally thousands of key words with Google, so that when a shopper Googles the phrase "freestanding toilet paper holder," the Concord-based company's web site pops up at the top of the results or within the top five.

Indeed, Sexton spends up to 10 percent of revenue per year on marketing, virtually all of it with Google. Revenue last year: $3.6 million, with $4 million projected for this year.

A graduate of Tufts with an MBA from Northwestern, Sexton is an unlikely entrepreneur. He jumped into a job with a chemical company in Massachusetts right after MBA school. He never pictured himself owning a small business, but three years of corporate behavior was all he could take. "The traveling, the meetings, the kinds of never seeing the result of your efforts, because of everything being rolled up into some corporate policy was too much," says Sexton, who is now 44.

So he quit his job and persuaded his wife, Cheryl, a medical student, to take a year off and to travel. And so they did, to Thailand, Nepal, India, Indonesia and Australia.

They were at a Tibetan refugee camp when Richard fell in love with sweaters, of all things. Thick and heavy, he had some shipped to Massachusetts. Upon their return, he sold them from the back of a "beat-up, old station wagon." Business wasn't so good. "If you just moved in them you'd sweat, they were so heavy," he laughs.

The Sextons decided to move to the Concord area where Cheryl was starting a residency at the old Cabarrus Memorial Hospital. Richard, meanwhile, opened the Himal Home Gallery on King's Drive in Charlotte where he sold items he imported from Nepal. When the lease came up, he decided to move the business closer to home, in Concord.

Business was good, but then seven years ago he decided to launch Carolina Rustica, a new name that reflected his broader aspirations. When some retail space opened up near Concord Mills at a rate considerably below market, he took it and launched carolinarustica.com.

With internet business soaring, he bought a warehouse off Highway 601; it's now stocked to the gills, with a call center to boot. In fact, Carolina Rustica will move into 4,000 square feet of space in the Gibson Mill on Cabarrus Avenue in old Concord early next year. The mill is being restored and rehabbed by Jock Liles, a building contractor who is the son of former Mayor George Liles of Concord. Sexton likes the fact that there will be exposed brick walls and wooden beams overhead. He's upfitting the place at a cost well into the six figures.

Is growth always good? "It puts a lot of stress on the organization. We only have 12 employees, including myself, so $4 million is a big number for 12 employees. We are busy and always trying to staff at the right number of people," he says.

Biggest challenge: "By far and away, hiring the right people. Service is intense, professionalism and the ability to multi-task is essential. We're hiring college graduates now. In the early days we used to hire warm bodies."

Humor vs. professionalism: Sexton is an incredibly funny, quip-witted guy. "I like a relaxed environment, and I am by nature a joker, but I don't carry that into the work environment. As much as I'd like to wear bunny ears, I don't."

Market niche: High end home furnishings, many of them metal, many of them custom fabricated, including chandeliers, dining chairs, baker's racks and even gazebos.

Next up: A new line of metal items that Richard himself designs. He is looking at expanding from kitchen and home accents into garden accoutrement. "The really, really fun part is coming up with designs that people want and really like," Sexton says.

Best advice for marketing via Google and key word searches: "The more generic your key word, the less satisfactory the result you're going to get. Be specific, have enough of them to make a difference."