Tabletops Unlimited kicks off its 25th year in business at the top of its game. Its name has lived up to an ambitious mission: providing a limitless variety of saleable dinnerware to a roster of coveted accounts that read like a who’s who in retailing. TTU – as it is affectionately known in the trade – continuously churns out hundreds of designs yearly which has deposited millions of dollars in its customers’ bank accounts. Never one to rest on laurels – flip back a page and take a look at the eye-popping jungle photography they just applied to dinnerware, continued evidence of the company’s constant knack of thinking outside the box – TTU manages to stay atop and ahead of design curves to offer their retail partners the right designs that fly off the shelves. And believe it or not, TTU’s design prowess isn’t even the first asset that accounts mention as the company’s ace in the hole. That would be their attention to service; the business’ unwavering dedication to its key customer base on which TTU prizes and prides itself.

As TTU commemorates a quarter century there’s much to celebrate and co-founder Dar Molayem and his team intend just that. “This is a big milestone for us,” Molayem exalts. “Making it this far starting from scratch without knowledge of this industry as new immigrants is very big for us.” (A bit of background: Molayem and his erstwhile partner and childhood friend, Hamid Ebrahimi, fled Tehran in pursuit of the American dream. They started the business in 1983, and during the first year of operation, TTU’s current executive team joined on.)

Although Ebrahimi died suddenly in 2001 (“There’s not a single day I don’t think about him and wish he were here,” Molayem offers), he and Molayem realized their grandiose vision which was brighter than they ever dared dream. “It’s so cliché,” Molayem begins, “but coming here and making it from scratch could only happen in America. Our company is also a big multicultural melting pot where we all work side-by-side in a family environment.”

That heterogeneous caldron is ten miles from Los Angeles Airport in a 500,000-square-foot compound of buildings. While Molayem and his team are eager to promote and market the 25th anniversary, Molayem intrinsically appreciates that it’s the present and the future, not the past, that shapes the enterprise. And there’s simply no time to gloat about a job well done, Molayem crisply conveys. “I don’t look in the rear or side mirrors too much. We believe in what we’re doing now, not what we’ve done before or what the competition is doing. When you’re busy looking back or around that keeps you from what needs to be done now.” The bottom line, he continues, is as a small company (well not so small...TTU is a nine-figure operation), they must work harder and smarter. “That’s how we make a difference to our customers,” Molayem affirms. “Over the last 25 years, we’ve taken care of our customers and focused on product. That’s the key to continue to grow, and that’s our mission.” But, he quickly injects, “We’ve not yet reached our maximum.”

Goody for us.

The fact is Molayem works as hard as he did 25 years ago when he and his partners were at the fore of a nascent business, spending weeks traveling across China in pursuit of factories for merchandise to import. These days Molayem wouldn’t be faulted for taking a more leisurely position in his well-heeled operation, but he won’t. The delight derived is commensurate with the effort made.

Molayem concedes the past 25 years have flown by, but the education has been priceless. “If I were starting today,” he admits, “I wouldn’t do anything the way I did. I might have hired a few experts instead of learning it all by trial and error.” He muses about the road not taken, possibly buying a business, instead of starting from scratch. “Of course,” he agrees, “the benefit of doing it on your own is you learn how to do everything. There’s not an aspect of business I’m not aware of or afraid of. I can do it all because I have and that gives great confidence.”

The savvy Molayem understands there are no successful short cuts which explains why TTU has grown slowly but surely, a million bucks at a time. “It would be difficult starting our business today,” Molayem segues. “When we began there were so many more customers and not as many competitors.” But a quick moment’s reflection and Molayem proffers, “There were times when we had to totally change the kind of business we were and move in different directions because something wasn’t working, so there’s probably never a perfect time to start a business.” It’s about adaptation, Molayem allows, and TTU continually evolved to become one of the pre-eminent suppliers of casual dinnerware, virtually inventing a billion-dollar category alongside other key companies, many of which Molayem makes no secret of his immense respect.