THE AMERICAN DREAM

Once he became a barber like his dad, Jones paid close attention to his customers, brushing off their shoulders and helping them with their coats. He kept those habits when he opened his first retail store and he continues to focus on personal service as he marks his company’s 50^th year in business.

“I’ve always loved my customers,” Jones said. “I’ve always enjoyed taking care of people.”

In August of 1960, Bob Jones, Sr. was a few years into his career as a barber in his dad’s barbershop. But his heart was in retail.

He had successfully run his own toy store the previous holiday season and was now opening his first permanent store – a 1,600-square-foot space in south suburban Dolton. Jones was determined to succeed, but even he couldn’t have known just how far the business would take him.

By keeping a close eye on his market, embracing change and focusing on 110 percent customer service, Jones has both lived and sold the American dream. Today, his company is one of the most unique retail businesses in Illinois – a seven-store home-recreation superstore that transforms into Chicagoland’s leading holiday retailer each fall.

The company is led by CEO Bob Jones, Sr. and his son, Company President Bob Jones, Jr. It employs a staff of 250, many who have worked there 20 or 30 years, and gives back generously to the community, especially supporting Catholic schools, the American Cancer Society and Alzheimer’s research among other charities.

Because of its service to customers and the community and dedication to its employees and the retail industry, the Illinois Retail Merchants Association named American Sale of Tinley Park its 2010 Illinois Retailer of the Year.

“American Sale truly exemplifies the best that retailing brings to the State of Illinois,” said Illinois State Representative Kevin McCarthy (D-Orland Park), who nominated the company for the honor. “True to the award’s criteria, American Sale is successful in business, committed to the community and civic affairs and respected in the industry.”

“American Sale is a great example of how true passion translates into success in the retail industry,” said IRMA President & CEO David F. Vite. “Bob Jones, Sr.’s dedication to providing his customers with top quality product and great service is reflected by each of his employees, in every detail of their work.”

American Sale headquarters
along Interstate-80 in Tinley Park

Jones, Sr. recalls his very first sales experience. He was a seven-year-old watching houses being built in Evergreen Park, when a construction worker asked him for a cold drink.

“I went home, put five or six bottles of pop in a bucket with some ice and went back and sold them,” Jones remembers. “My mom said, ‘what a good boy, Bob. You did such a good job.’ So I took that 50 cents, went to the local grocery, bought six more the next day and I kept going back. But it was my mother who encouraged me.”

He kept going back and selling bottles of pop to the workers. One day the following year, he ran into a soft drink distributor who sold it to him for 80-cents a case – wholesale. Suddenly eight-year-old Bob Jones was in business for himself, storing a half-dozen cases of pop in his grandmother’s garage and selling it to workers for 10 cents a bottle.

At a very young age, Jones was honing retail skills that would last him a lifetime.

A couple years after he started selling soft drinks, he noticed two brothers selling American flags at the cemetery on Memorial Day. When he found out how much they were making, he saved and bought flags himself. His school friends helped to sell them, and Jones paid them a commission.

Soon he added pinwheels, balloons and other small toys to his inventory. On Sundays, he set up shop on a corner across from Kiddieland amusement park.

“So that was kind of my introduction to the toy business,” he said.

In high school, Jones worked for his dad at the barbershop. He entered the school’s Diversified Occupation program and had a license to cut hair when he was just 16.

He was a full-time barber when he and his wife, Dolores, married in October 1958. It appeared Jones was going to follow his father in business. But one day in late December 1958, he came home after a long day of cutting hair with $67 in his pocket. He knew his income would be limited by the number of heads of hair he could cut in one day. So he told his wife, ‘next year we’re going to be in the toy business.’

He began setting aside money for toys and stored the inventory in his second floor apartment. The following fall he rented a store in Roseland for $135 a month during the holiday season.

The previous retail tenant left only wooden shelves on the wall. So Jones bought a stack of orange crates for a nickel each, and topped them with 4-by-8 sheets of plywood. For a check-out counter, he found an old black door and stacked it on top of more orange crates. He topped it off with an old-fashioned hand-crank cash register he bought for $35.

Jones took time away from the barbershop during the holiday season to run the store.

“I would wash my windows in Roseland every day,” he recalled. “And there was a man that would walk by everyday – Jim Gately, who ran the Gately’s Department store in Roseland. He said, ‘kid, you wash these windows every day, you’re going to make it one day. I know you’re going to make it.’”

The seasonal store succeeded, but Jones wanted more than a part-time retail business. The following summer he found a permanent location, renting space at a four-year-old strip center on 154^th Street and Cottage Grove in Dolton. He made all his wooden fixtures by hand, and hired two ladies to run the store. The store opened on Aug. 18, 1960.

Jones continued cutting hair, taking extended leaves during the holidays to run his seasonal store. During the rest of the year, he would cut hair during the day and tend to his retail business at night. He was only home between 7 p.m to midnight – long enough to eat and sleep while Dolores cared for their three young children.

“My father was a saint and allowed me to leave the barber shop (from October until January). I did that for four years,” he said. “But I kept my barber license for probably 20 years because I always wanted to be able to fall back on the barbering.”

It wasn’t until 1964 that he stopped cutting hair to focus solely on his store. By then his retail business was a solid success.

“Bob knew what he was doing. He is a born salesman and he knew what the people wanted,” said long-time friend Jim Watson. “Being a barber, he would listen to people and talk to people. He’d find out what they wanted and what kind of toys they were buying at Christmas. All these ideas he just kept in the back of his head. He learned from the people.”

Bob Jones, Sr.
with his first cash register

A couple of years ago when Bob, Sr. was considering adding Halloween items in the fall, he called his long-time vendor, Rickey Roth, and asked he would go shopping with him and Bob, Jr. for a day. He wanted an overview of every Halloween category and he wanted to see how the competition was selling its Halloween merchandise.

Then the two Jones’ men went back to their offices and put together a program for the following Halloween. Of course, it succeeded.

“He’s one of the old-timers who realizes that change is important,” Roth said. “He’s willing to change and he has the vision to wait until the right time.”

Bob Jones, Jr., President
of American Sale

The Roseland location eventually became a year-round store. It was bigger than the Dolton store and had a bigger parking lot, so in about 1964 Jones figured he could use the parking lot to sell bigger swimming pools. It was the kind of bold move for which Jones would become known.

“I thought he was crazy to set up pools outside,” Roth recalls. “I thought, ‘what a waste of real estate.’ But it’s worked out great. He was way ahead of his time.”

Gil W. Rynberk, President & CEO, First National Bank of Illinois, Lansing, called Jones a risk-taker who doesn’t roll the dice.

“He not only has a plan A, he has a plan B, C & D as well,” Rynberk said. “He looks far beyond today. The term ‘vision’ is so much over-used, but his approach has been impeccable.”

Jones was looking ahead in 1971 when he built a new 12,000-square-foot store in Bridgeview and closed the Dolton store. The additional space allowed the company to expand its home recreation category beyond swimming pools and widen his scope of holiday products.

The company continued to grow and change. In 1974, the Roseland store was replaced with a new Lansing location. A new Distribution Center in Calumet City in 1978 gave the company the ability to order deep numbers of each product and continue offering them at competitive prices.

Ten years later, a 44,000-square-foot distribution facility was built in Calumet City along with a new store in Orland Park that now sold pool tables, spas and gas grills. More stores eventually opened in Merrillville, IN, Romeoville and Naperville.

When American Sale built its 215,000-square-foot warehouse and outlet store in Tinley Park in 1996, nothing was around except for Interstate-80. So Jones picked out an 11-acre plot of land on a hill, 21 feet above the highway.

“I figured if you build a 40-foot building on a 21-foot hill, you’re going to see it. You’re not going to miss it as you drive by on the highway,” he said.

The building includes an elevator bank for possible future expansion as well as knock-out areas in the brick walls for future windows and doors. The project was so successful it sparked more businesses to build in the area and it prompted the Tinley Park mayor to ask Jones to join the Tinley Park Economic Development Commission. He served the group for three years.

“He has a very analytical mind,” said long-time vendor John Schutz. “He’s always able to see opportunities before a lot of other people do.”

American Sale's
Naperville store

In the early years, Jones traveled to New York each year to find merchandise at the Toy Fair. But by the mid- to late-1970s, the toy industry started changing. Toys became more expensive. TV advertising helped push the demand for more expensive merchandise and toys started becoming an expensive obligation. It was then that Jones remembered an early lesson he learned in his dad’s barbershop when a customer loudly complained to his father about the price of a haircut, then walked to the local tavern and treated his friends to a round of drinks.

“My dad told me that whenever people need something, they’ll always complain – whether it’s the price of milk, gas or a haircut,” Jones explained. “But when they want something, like a new car or a vacation, they’ll always justify it because it makes them feel better. A haircut was something this guy needed; but being a big-shot was something he wanted. That’s why we sell products people want!”

When Jones went to the Toy Fair in 1981, he found the toy vendors increasingly more difficult. They were asking him to reduce his profit margin and cover the loss with higher volume sales. But he knew that shooting for higher volume meant higher costs for his stores. The toy business was changing and he needed to get out. So when he returned home he bought property in Merrillville, IN, for a new type of store that would sell only the things people wanted, such as pools and spas – everything but toys.

The Merrillville store opened in 1984 and within two years, he had completely liquidated his inventory of toys. While he cleared out half of his business – the category he started with – Jones knew it was the right thing to do.

“I just cut out the core that wasn’t good; the half that wasn’t generating profit,” he said.

About that time, Jones’ daughter, Sandra, and son, Bob, Jr., were finishing college. His oldest daughter, Mary Ellen, was already working at the company. It was a great time for the influx of extra help.

In 1983, American Sale had a few stores, a warehouse and fewer than 80 employees. It was still operating without computers, but at the early stages of a big growth spurt.

“It just needed some structure,” recalls Bob, Jr. “The business had grown and the company needed help just trying to do some of the basic functions. When I came in after college, it was ‘good, glad you’re here, let’s get to work.’ ”

Bob, Jr. immediately rolled up his sleeves and started upgrading the back-end systems. The timing of the company’s first computers couldn’t have been better. The spreadsheet analysis proved what Bob, Sr. had suspected: there was no future in the toy business.

But the future was bright in the home recreation categories – products like pools, patio furniture and billiard tables that all took up a lot of space. So when he built new stores in Naperville and Orland Park, he made them bigger with plenty of room outside for product displays.

Jones felt confident his new stores would succeed as long as he picked good locations – somewhere between an expressway and a shopping destination such as a Sears store or a mall that would draw plenty of traffic. If the location was near a traffic stoplight, so much the better.

“We never felt it was going to fail,” Jones said. “We picked good locations.”

Location is crucial because American Sale runs a retail business model few companies would even attempt, making dramatic and extensive changes to its product line twice each year.

In the spring and summer, the stores are stocked with pools, spas, grills and patio furniture. But each autumn, American Sale becomes a holiday superstore with Christmas trees, wreaths, ornaments and holiday lighting filling the stores. Then, in January, the holiday merchandise is removed and the home recreation items are returned.

“People who experience us in November see a completely different store than if they’ve seen us in May,” said Bob Jones, Jr. “A lot of people know us as the Christmas store – many don’t even know we sell pools.”

American Sale not only offers a wide selection of holiday items, but they stock enough of the merchandise to satisfy their customers. Both Roth and John DeCosmo, President of Ulta-Lit Technologies, Glenview, called the company the best seasonal store in the country.

“This industry has been less than kind to seasonal merchants,” DeCosmo said. “But their people stay incredibly focused for a group that has to switch merchandise. People don’t realize how really difficult that is to do.”

Bob Jones, Jr. realizes his family’s business is different than most.

“There are other pool stores or patio stores, but there’s no store that does this home-and-holiday type environment where we have fun products for the home and holiday products too. We’re just very unique in what we do.”

As the number of stores and employees increased, the operation was expanded again with the hiring of a human resources director in 2001. The new position added more structure to the company’s policies and procedures. They expanded training and formalized the hiring process. The new position more than paid for itself.

“Some businesses don’t take that step to hire a professional to do that function and create that professionalism in your business. They really don’t understand what it’s costing them when hiring the wrong people, not following through on accidents waiting to happen, and so on,” Bob, Jr. explained. “Now we focus on good training so we can deliver the kind of customer service we say we’re going to do.”

Today, when a new employee starts at American Sale, they typically visit the corporate office within their first six weeks to go over the company handbook and policies. Bob, Jr. likes to meet each new hire personally.

“I give them a little history of the company so they understand that American Sale is not just a corporation or a building or something,” Bob, Jr. said. “Now there’s a face behind the name. We have an open-door policy.”

Bob, Sr. likes to work in the stores during the busy Christmas seaon. He’ll often work several of the stores in one day, spending a few hours at each store starting at 7 a.m. He is so low-key, many newer employees don’t realize who he is.

About three years ago, he went to work at his Merrillville store at 7 a.m., got to the Romeoville store around lunch time and left for the Naperville store at 4 p.m. At Romeoville he helped a seasonal employee straighten out the wreaths and garland. The next day he did the same, never letting on who he was.

“On the second day, when I started helping him, this employee looked at me and said, ‘I’ve been here since 7 in the morning. Yesterday, you came in at 1 p.m., then you disappeared after a few hours. Now today, you come in again at 1 o’clock and you’re leaving early again. When did you start with the company?’ I told him, ’47 years ago.’ ”

Ever since opening his first store, Bob, Sr. dedicated himself to the philosophy of 110 percent customer service. It may sound simple in theory, his son explained, but it takes consistent effort and flexibility to make it work.

“Sometimes we get customers who buy a product, then bring it back because maybe it’s not the exact colors they want. So we switch it out,” Bob, Jr. said. “Anyone who’s ever given us a deposit on a sale, if for whatever reason they change their mind, we don’t charge them. We just give them their money back.”

A customer service philosophy is hard to dictate through an employee manual. The Jones’ prefer to lead by example. Bob, Sr. visits each store once every week or two, sometimes walking the floor and talking with customers, other times pitching in to move a display or straighten product on the shelves.

“It’s just respecting one another, treating people fair, being fair with people,” Bob, Sr. said. “If you do that, then it just filters down naturally.”

“They’ve always taught by example,” said Tim Gutraj, Operations Manager for American Sale, now in his 30^th year at the company. “Bob was always the type of boss who, if a job needed to be done, we’d work on it together.”

To measure the impact on customers, American Sale also surveys each of the thousands of people they deliver to each year. On the key question, ‘Would you recommend American Sale to your friends and family,’ 97 percent of respondents answer in the positive.

“We can’t legitimately make the claim we’re going to make 100 percent of the people happy yet,” Bob, Jr. said. “But we’ll never stop pushing that needle up in the high 90s and keep trying for 100 percent. We’re very proud of it.”

The customer satisfaction rating also impressed the Better Business Bureau which honored American Sale in March for “Supporting Business Ethics for 50 years.” It has been a BBB-accredited business since 1960 and has received the highest rating a business can receive – A+.

At American Sale, customer service goes beyond how sales associates treat guests in the stores. The company purchases a wide selection of goods, offers them at low prices and teaches customers how the products work.

“We’ve always tried to put the customer first,” Bob, Jr. said. “For instance, most people who buy a pool from us have never purchased a pool before or a hot tub. So we try to educate them. We try to be a resource to consumers so they don’t make mistakes.”

TV monitors placed throughout the stores show videos explaining the difference in price between two spas, or what to look for when buying a sauna.

It all starts with purchasing. Jones takes pride in selecting the best quality products from across the globe. But before hitting the road, he carefully analyzes what the customers want.

“He’s really tuned into what the market desires and has an eye for the details, whether it be the construction or type of fabric used to make a patio chair,” Madden said. “Then he finds quality and parlays that into a sale.”

Jones is also very price-sensitive. He continuously shops the competition, and makes sure American Sale has some of the best prices around.

Low pricing is partly possible because of the company’s 215,000 square-foot warehouse in Tinley Park. American Sale can buy directly from the manufacturer, have it shipped to the warehouse and then right to the customer with minimal handling. There is no middle-man to pay and American Sale can maintain complete quality control.

The company has a number of suppliers they have worked with for 30 or 40 years. They have developed an understanding and a trust with those vendors, making it easier to find the products they need. Still, Bob, Jr. is constantly reminding his buyers that the customers always come first.

“It’s the first thing I tell anyone who does purchasing for us – you’re going to develop personal relationships with the vendors, but don’t ever forget who you’re working for – not them, but the customers.

“Sometimes it’s difficult because when you’re in retail, you’ve got 10s of thousands or 100s of thousands of customers and I personally don’t get to meet most of them,” Bob, Jr. said. “My vendors, I have long-standing relationships with and I do get to know those people. Our vendors would say, we’re loyal to them. But what I would tell any of my vendors is don’t underestimate my loyalty to my customers.”

Besides offering 110 percent customer service, Bob, Sr. has one other simple philosophy – you always must run your business. You can’t let it run you.

“I think it’s been very simple,” he said. “You have very good people, and you must be able to delegate and trust the people that they’re going to do a good job. And in 50 years, I must say, I’ve had such wonderful, wonderful people.”

Bob, Jr. added that while circumstances sometimes change, you can’t let those changes force your hand and change how you operate.

“You have to make sure you provide the business with enough capital so you’re not beholden to banks and lenders. That way you can kind of chart your own destiny in that situation,” he said.

Bob, Jr. also stressed how important it is for American Sale to have a say in the government when they’re passing laws and developing regulations, because those mandates impact the business in many different ways.

“It’s amazing how important it is to get in the door and talk to the legislators. It’s the old commentary, if you’re not at the table, you’re on the table. I think that’s more true now than ever,” said Bob Jr., currently in his third year as an IRMA Director. “We see things happen in Springfield that make it more and more difficult to do business. IRMA gives us the ability to have an impact with some of the people who are making these laws and regulations.”

        

From part-time jobs to summer jobs to his professional career, Bob Jones, Jr.’s only employer has been his father’s company. He said he is blessed to have had the opportunity, but he wants it to be different for the third generation of Jones’ – his own three daughters, Erica, Kaitlin and Jaclyn.

“My rule for them, they have to be out of college for at least three years. They can’t go right from college to this business. I want them to develop their skills away from the business and learn from others. I also want them to live and work as an employee of some other business so they know how to better treat our employees and finally I want them to always know they can make it on their own if they had to. This will make them better stewards of the business and happier throughout their lives if they do wish to work in the business.”

Everyone who knows Bob and Dolores Jones say family is extraordinarily important to them. They enjoy being around each other whether on vacation in Florida or working side-by-side in the family business.

“They’ve always been a very family-orientated business,” vendor Rickey Roth said. “Bob, Sr. likes to educate and teach. He’s trained his children to understand the retail business and he’s trained them quite well. I’m sure there have been times when they’ve made a decision that wasn’t necessarily the right one, but he’s allowed his children to learn on the job.”

At one point or another, everyone in the family has worked in the business. For many years in the past, Bob, Sr.’s wife, Dolores, wrote the payroll checks among other administrative tasks.

Mary Ellen Griffin, their oldest daughter, worked at the company for years until about 15 years ago. Sandra, Vice-President of Merchandising, travels to Asia with her dad each year to buy Christmas products while Bob, Jr. now runs the business overall. Bob, Jr.’s three daughters have all worked part-time jobs at American Sale.

Maybe because he works with family members every day or maybe because he enjoys his business and customers so much he doesn’t feel as though he’s really working.

“He loves what he’s doing,” Watson said. “He loves to make a sale for a pool and then have the customer come back and tell him what fun they had.”

“I’ve been lucky to have such competent kids come in to work at American Sale and help me build it into what it is today,” Bob, Sr. said. “That has allowed me to step back from running the business and focus on what I really love to do which is to find great products, merchandise them well and make my customers happy."

“I have no intentions to retire,” he said. “I’m very fortunate, I enjoy what I do.”