The TAP position works well for a couple of reasons. The sales staff at many furniture stores turns over frequently -- as people transfer to different stores, get promoted, or leave for other jobs -- so there are always new people to train. And veterans appreciate being brushed up, since it helps them put more commission money in their pockets. But the TAPs are also important because the Mitchell Gold Co. has pioneered the art of selling furniture in stores that don't specialize in furniture -- and those sorts of stores are eager to learn from the masters. Half of the company's sales come from three chains -- Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn, and Restoration Hardware -- where teaching and training are especially crucial. "Separating the sales and the training into different jobs is an unusual system, and it really seems to work," says Rob Pitt of Crate and Barrel.

The result of all this legwork? Five TAPs and five sales managers will produce about $65 million in sales this year -- $1,500 sofa by $1,500 sofa. "I was amazed by how small the sales force was when I got here," says the Mitchell Gold Co.'s Brad Cates, who worked at Calvin Klein before getting into the furniture business. Thanks in part to this kind of sales efficiency, the Mitchell Gold Co. has been profitable every year that it's been in business.

Ron Lieber (rlieber@fastcompany.com), a Fast Company senior writer, is based in New York. He spent nine months shopping for his first sofa. Contact Mitchell Gold by email (bigdawg@mitchellgold.com), or learn more about the Mitchell Gold Co. on the Web (www.mitchellgold.com).

Sidebar: Sold on the Future

Thanks to the on-site café inside their two-year-old factory, Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams have access to plenty of comfort food. But the debt that they took on to build the place left them with some indigestion. "Business was great, but we were leveraged up to our eyeballs," says Gold. "We had personal guarantees on everything." Seeking some measure of financial security, the pair decided to sell the company in 1998. But rather than bringing in a bunch of investment bankers, Gold and Williams shopped for a buyer the way that their customers shop for furniture. They had one criterion: a perfect fit. When they found it in the Rowe Companies, they called the company's CEO to negotiate.

"The phone rings one day, and it's Mitchell on the other end," says Rowe CEO Gerald Birnbach, 67, who still sounds surprised that his company somehow ended up as the parent of the Mitchell Gold Co. "It was ironic, because we were trying hard to grow at the time and had bought the Storehouse chain. Of course, Mitchell Gold was a company that people respected, and quite frankly, there weren't a lot of other names that came up. When the phone call came, it was almost as if it was fate."

Gold explains why he called Birnbach: "He has vision, and Rowe seemed like the most progressive furniture company out there at the time. The company had also done a great job of knocking off our products, copying our ads, and fiercely coming after our business. Plus, it's headquartered in Virginia -- far enough away so that Gerry wouldn't be looking over our shoulders but close enough so that we could get there pretty quickly if we really needed something."

Birnbach cut Gold and Williams a pretty good deal: He promised not to meddle too much in their affairs, and so far, he's kept his word. In fact, he thinks that the pair have been a good influence on him personally. "My family says that they loosen me up," reports Birnbach. "I even have a pair of black dungarees now. Black, not blue, because when I see those two, I have to be in uniform."

Once the deal was closed, Birnbach got Gold and Williams to sign a five-year management contract, and he's paying them much of their loot over that five-year period. They received $13 million in cash up front and also got 300,000 options on Rowe stock, which they gave away to their employees. The pair (who have always been 50-50 partners) stand to make a total of $32 million from the deal if they hit their targets. So far, they've obliterated every goal.

Sidebar: Design Center

Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams have also brought their design principles to bear on their company's factory and headquarters building, in Taylorsville, North Carolina. When they built the complex in 1998, they could only afford to borrow $6 million, but they managed to cut a few corners in order to make the space more comfortable. There are no reserved parking spaces for the bosses and no drop-ceiling panels anywhere in the building. The factory is also air-conditioned -- a rarity in the furniture industry until recently, even in North Carolina. "A lot of factories that I've seen are straight out of the Middle Ages," Williams says.