What's next?: Susquehanna Pfaltzgraff plans to sell two divisions

For decades, family ownership was the vessel that held two disparate divisions of Susquehauna Pfaltzgraff Co.

Last week, the vessel holding the media company and the pottery maker cracked. Lacking an Appell family member willing to become a manager, the

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The two divisions operated in different worlds at least partly through one common strategy knowing the customer.

"We don't know how they do it. How are they able to determine what a population wants when so many others just seem to miss it totally?" asked Thomas Gibson, telecomunications manager for York College of Pennsylvania and a Susquehanna employee in the early 1970s.

Gibson was referring to the media division, Susquehanna Media Co. But the question also might be asked of the pottery division, The Pfaltzgraff Co. The business recently debuted a service that lets customers design their own custom-made pieces online.

The drive to understand the buyer emerged at a company whose diverse operations were stewarded actively by the Appell family that holds a majority stake in the business.