ASHLEY FURNITURE INDUSTRIES
Meet Mike Kays, Vice President of Rental Sales with APRO associate member Ashley Furniture Industries. Born in Iowa, but now a naturalized Texan, Mike has had a vast and varied career – from men’s sportswear to women’s couture to ultimate toys to furniture to rent-to-own.
RTOHQ: The Magazine caught up with Kays, who guided us along the long and winding road of his career, culminating with his past dozen years working in the RTO industry.
APRO: Where did you grow up, and what was your growing-up experience like?
MK: I was born in Iowa, but we moved around a lot until we settled in Plano, Texas – which is part of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex – when I was in second grade. I played all the sports – football, basketball, baseball, soccer – until I joined the band, playing trombone. I really enjoyed learning music and working together as a group; I was in jazz band and marching band. I found a strong group of friends there that I still have today, about four decades later.
APRO: How about after high school – did you go to college, or jump into the workforce?
MK: I actually met up with those same friends at The University of Texas at Austin, and we joined a small fraternity together – a diverse group of guys who were fun to hang around. There were 27 members our first year; by my senior year, I was president of the fraternity with more than 100 members. That leadership role was a big turning point for me; from being just a part of an organization to being the president – I learned some real-life lessons about what leaders deal with.
APRO: What was your degree?
MK: I graduated with a finance degree, and ended up accepting an assistant buyer position for a department store in Houston – Foley’s then (Macy’s now). I realized that being in a buying office was kind of like running your own little business, but with somebody’s else’s money. I bought for men’s sportswear, and I learned business terminology and how to run a business. Then I returned to North Texas to do a stint in a store, which gave me a true appreciation for what store managers go through. It’s a brutal job.
So I stayed for a couple of years – when I met and married my wife, Amy – but wanted to get back to buying. I accepted an associate buyer position with Neiman Marcus in downtown Dallas; the opening was in the couture evening department. I didn’t know what that was, but I learned how to buy for high-end evening gowns, worth thousands of dollars. It was a baptism by fire, for sure!
APRO: How did you get from couture evening to furniture rental?
MK: I was promoted to men’s buyer for the Neiman Marcus catalogue; then, they decided to build a separate catalogue for really wealthy men – like a Sharper Image catalogue for the top three percent of income earners. I went around the world searching for top-notch gifts to build this catalogue; I think we sold a tank at one point. The women I worked with jokingly called me ‘the boy-toy buyer.’
It was fun, but eventually, a boss moved to JC Penney and invited me to join him. He had buyer positions for either jewelry or furniture, so I became a furniture buyer for Penney’s. It was wonderful growing the business, swinging deals, bringing bargains and values to customers. But by 2011, Penney’s was eliminating furniture and eliminated my job. Fortunately, Ashley was there to give me a shot.
APRO: Tell me about your experience with Ashley Furniture.
MK: Well, Vice President at the time Gary Jones said, ‘I want to offer you this job, I think you’re going to be great, but you should understand that once you join rent-to-own, you sort of never get out.’ And I said, ‘Like Hotel California?’ And he said, ‘A little. RTO protects their own. So if you ever leave Ashley, they’ll have your back.’ I thought that was a little intimidating, but kind of cool. Over the past 12 years, I’ve made some of my best friends in rent-to-own, they definitely have my back, and they will work with me so that I’m successful and they’re successful.
We sell to about 175 individual rental dealers across the country. Our rental team has been able to grow Ashley’s business to dealers, and I’d like to believe I’ve helped them grow their businesses. That’s how business should work – partnerships that benefit both sides.
APRO: What’s your favorite part of your work?
MK: When I can sit down with a rental dealer – meaning the owner, the buyer, or the store manager – and we find a way to make that business better, it just doesn’t get any better than that. Whether it’s a new promotion or a solution for some problem they’re having, if I can help them make their customers happier, that’s what makes it all worth it – making a positive difference in people’s lives.
APRO: Tell me a little about your personal relationships – your family.
MK: Amy and I have been married for 29 years. She owns a business that keeps her very involved in the community; she produces school spirit wear to help Parent- Teacher and other school organizations raise money. Our daughter, Caley, is 25; she teaches sixth-grade math, which is funny because she hated middle school and she hated math. But it’s her calling; she was Teacher of the Year her first year of teaching, and is now team lead for her school. Our son, Caden, is 22 and a student at the University of Texas at Dallas. He’s interested in the arts, and working to find the right place to contribute. I’m blessed to still have my mom around; she’s 87 and still living on her own.
APRO: How do spend your free time?
MK: We’ve lived in Prosper, Texas – which is in the far north 40 of DFW – since 2004; it was 2,500 people then, it’s 38,000 now. We belong to Prosper United Methodist Church, where I’ve taught Sunday School and worked with youth. I’m also currently president of my homeowners’ association.
Our ‘happy place’ is Fredericksburg, down in the Texas Hill Country. We love nothing more than to hang with the winemakers all around there, and enjoy new wineries and new wines. And we’ve got a closeknit group of friends here in Prosper. I guess it’s a string of continuity through my life – I like spending time with people who make me better and who I can help be better, too.
