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En Español |
April 27 2007
On a missionPawn shop chain CEO wants to change way people look at industry.
John Thedford is on a mission to change the way that people look at pawn shops. Although his main goal is to run the most successful pawn shop chain in the Southeast, the CEO and president of Maitland-based Value Financial Services -- the company behind the Value Pawn chain -- also wants to improve the industry's image. His goal is to dispel the notions that pawn shops are unkempt, deal mostly in stolen goods and sell a lot of firearms. The same energy Thedford uses to convince others about the demand for his type of business, he also uses to motivate his employees, who he refers to as team members. For example, he rewards workers when they do well, recently handing out $3,000 checks to 10-year employees, while feting them at a high-end steak house for dinner. He says his strategy for success is simple: "Worship your people." That mantra also applies to his clientele. Thedford demands unparalleled customer service from his workers -- a key component, because 80 percent of his business is from repeat patrons. Does his strategy work?Thedford and his investors started out with stores in Orlando, Tampa and West Palm Beach in 1994. He now has 62 stores in Florida, Georgia and Tennessee and expects $100 million in revenue this year. Last year, the company raked in $88 million, up from $60 million in 2005. Thedford got involved with the industry while working as an accountant for the company that's now Price Waterhouse Coopers in Texas. While at the accounting firm, one of his first clients was CashAmerica, a pawn shop chain that had 30 stores at the time. He worked for five years as Cash-America's outside accountant and then joined the firm as an in-house accountant. After learning the operational side of the business with another pawn shop chain, he packed up his family and moved to Florida. Thedford raised about $50 million in capital in 1994 to open the first three Value Pawn stores, and has never looked back. Thedford says his company is wildly successful -- but it's not by accident. He says his secret weapon is the company's human resources strategy. His office wall displays a chart showing a direct correlation between employee wages, developing a team atmosphere in the workplace and increases in company profits. |
