Paul Secon

Who was Paul Secon?

Paul Secon was an American entrepreneur song-writer who co-founded Pottery Barn with his brother, Morris, in 1950.

Born in Philadelphia, Secon was the son of Russian immigrants. He was musically gifted, and played the trumpet, piano, oboe, and flute. Secon was the music critic for The Boston Evening Transcript. In 1950, he was a music editor for Billboard, Variety and creative songwriter having written for Nat King Cole, The Mills Brothers and many more whilst living in New York City when he heard about a business opportunity from Morris. Morris' wife had recently purchased stoneware at a yard sale in their hometown of Rochester, New York. Morris took a liking to the pieces, which were designed by Glidden Parker at his factory in Alfred, New York. Parker informed him that he had three barns full of discontinued or slightly damaged products for sale. The brothers decided to buy the pieces for US$2,500, and, with the help of their father, rented a store on 10th Avenue in New York City to sell their wares, thus giving birth to Pottery Barn.

A year later, an article in The New Yorker praised the store, and customers flocked to it in droves. Paul remained store manager, while Morris, who was also musically inclined, became principal hornist for the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and teacher at the Eastman School of Music. In 1959 Paul started taking long trips to Europe in search of new product lines, and asked Morris to help manage the store. In 1966, Paul sold the company to Morris and moved to Denmark, where he pursued his earlier career of music and writing, and where his son, Lucas Secon was born. In 1980, Paul moved back to the United States and settled in Manhattan before relocating to Rochester in 1997, where he died at his home at the age of 90. He is also the father of a daughter, Kirby Fairfax, who was born in Greenwich Village to Secon and Fairfax Kirby in 1949. She lives in San Diego, CA and is a journalist.++