Rainbow corporation

Replacements CEO finds that inclusion creates a thriving business

GREENSBORO -- Running a successful gay-friendly business might have come naturally to Bob Page, founder of Replacements Ltd.

But it hasn't.

Still, the North Carolina native has parlayed a weekend hobby of collecting china and crystal into an $85 million business replacing pieces of discontinued patterns for customers worldwide.

"We've had our share of people who hate our guts," said Page, the plain-talking chairman and chief executive officer of Replacements, which employs 550 at its Greensboro headquarters, warehouse and showroom.

Over the years, some have gone beyond hate mail in their attacks on the company. There were the anti-gay slurs scrawled on the men's room wall. A company generator was defaced with giant spray-painted letters. One woman parked sideways to block the entrance, shouting condemnations.

None of it deterred Page or his partner of nearly 19 years, Dale Frederiksen, who is senior vice president of product services, from making Replacements an active champion for the rights of gay, lesbian and transgender employees.

"I'm very proud that people can be here and work and know they will be judged on their performance and nothing else," Page said.

That management philosophy helped earn Replacements a perfect score on the 2008 Corporate Equality Index. The annual survey by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation in Washington rates companies based on non-discrimination policies and other factors.

Replacements is one of 11 companies that have scored 100 percent every year since the index was introduced in 2002. Others include Nike, Apple, Eastman Kodak and JPMorgan Chase.

"It is important, especially in North Carolina, where there are no state-level protections that would prevent an individual from being fired on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity," said Eric Bloem, deputy director of the workplace project at the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, which is dedicated to equality for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees.

The index also looks at criteria such as diversity training, domestic partner benefits and health and wellness benefits for transgender employees.

Page estimates that Replacements has 80 to 100 gay employees and at least one transgender worker.

"That's not part of our recruitment policy," he said. "It's not about being gay -- it's about people who might be different."

Page brings up one of his employees, a tattooed vegan who said no other employer would even offer him an interview.

"Being a gay man and knowing what discrimination is like has opened my eyes to being more accepting and nonjudgmental," said Page, who dresses in conservative button-downs and polo shirts and has a gentle Southern drawl.

Company as role model

That inclusive philosophy has rubbed off on the Greensboro community, where Replacements is a major employer and a supporter of local charities and programs aimed at making it a better place to live.

In fact, Replacements employs a full-time community affairs representative, Gary Palmer, whose job is to be the face of the company when it comes to serving on boards, organizing volunteer projects and advocating for social justice and equality.

Palmer has served on the boards of the United Way and Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro and on the Greensboro Human Relations Commission, whose members are appointed by the City Council.

Palmer helped form a committee that explored the addition of domestic partner benefits for city employees, which were added in 2006. He was instrumental in lobbying Guilford County Schools to adopt a policy in 2004 protecting students and staff from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.