It’s all about service

Joey Hoechsmann was named Cranbrook's Business Person of the Year for 2011—here are the keys to his success

1 of 4Joey Hoechsmann was named 2011 Business Person of the Year by the Cranbrook & District Chamber of Commerce. — Photo courtesy Joey Hoechsmann

2 of 4The Ashley Furniture HomeStore staff pictured here are (L to R) Mark, Jackie, Charmaine, Lorae and Joey. — Photo courtesy Joey Hoechsmann

3 of 4Joey Hoechsmann and his wife, Christine, own three stores in Cranbrook, B.C. — Photo courtesy Joey Hoechsmann

4 of 4The Bedroom Furniture Galleries staff are (L to R) Jason, Gwen, Tasy, Linda, Kevin, Tyler, Christine, Eli, Brendon, Joey, Kyle, Jocelyne, Paul, Rollie, Mark and Ryan. — Photo courtesy Joey Hoechsmann

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Joey Hoechsmann is the proud recipient of the 2011 Business Person of the Year Award, which he received at the Cranbrook & District Chamber of Commerce's annual business excellence awards gala on February 25, 2012.

Joey and his wife, Christine, are the owners of the Bedroom Furniture Galleries in Cranbrook, B.C., as well as two other furniture stores in town. Joey's parents, Fred and Gloria Hoechsmann, started the Bedroom in 1977 from humble beginnings—as a small waterbed store. Over the years, the store has grown and experienced huge success. About five years ago, the Hoechsmanns opened a second store, Ashley Furniture HomeStore, with Joey and Christine, and most recently, they opened Bedz for Less. Joey and Christine purchased the business from Joey's parents about two years ago and they’ve been going strong ever since.

Joey is also one of the founders of the Black Friday retail initiative in Cranbrook, an event that added a major boost to the local economy.

Joey said his mom and dad have remained huge mentors for him and are important contacts for him as he continues to strive for business excellence in Cranbrook. He also said he would not be nearly as successful without his wife and partner, Christine, and the support of the community.

Kootenay Business sat down with Joey to find out his thoughts on the business climate in the East Kootenay and how he has achieved success.

How does it feel to win the Business Person of the Year Award? That’s always a tough question for me. It was a huge surprise and honour at the same time. There were five really good candidates up for the award, so it's hard to believe that they picked me. I think it was a bit of a crapshoot: flip any five-sided coin and any one of us could have won the award (Joey laughs).

Why do you think you were nominated for the award? I’m obviously honoured that they chose me. I'm very active in the community. I've been a member of Junior Chamber International pretty much since its inception back in Cranbrook about seven years ago. I'm active on the Cranbrook & District Chamber of Commerce, and active on the Cranbrook Downtown Business Association and lots of other sub-committees. All of these organizations work on the same concept, which is trying to make sure that Cranbrook continues to be a great place to work, live and raise a family.

What are your top three priorities when it comes to conducting yourself as a business person in Cranbrook? In my business, it’s all about service, service, service—those are my three priorities. Whether it's external customers—who are the ones we deal with coming in to purchase anything in our stores—or internal customers, who are my staff, we always try to make sure we’re looking after those people.

I think in a small city like Cranbrook or in the East Kootenay in general, your reputation is so important. And if you’re letting people down and not looking after them, people will hear about it very quickly and it can flip your business overnight if you’re not careful. We are constantly monitoring that and continue to strive to make our business better and more efficient so (that) we look after our customers better as well.

What is the best part of owning a business in Cranbrook? Business is not always easy, especially in the current economic climate. But I can’t think of wanting to do business anywhere else but Cranbrook, and I would say the main reason for that is the area. I have two sons—they love skiing and golfing in the summertime. It’s the lifestyle this area provides, it’s the five-minute commute to work, it’s the people, it’s the lakes and it’s the seasons. You can also make a decent living. You’re not going to be a millionaire running a business in our area usually, but you’re going to do alright and you’re really going to enjoy life and be satisfied.

How can business improve in Cranbrook? That’s been a question that’s being tossed around by a number of people, especially recently. I’m actually on a committee with Mike Adams through the chamber where we’re trying to do that exact thing.

We’re coming up with survey questions, talking to businesses downtown and trying to see what it is that we can do to move forward and continue to improve. Sometimes you can get kind of negative, but really we have got a lot of great businesses in town, a lot of great services and a lot of positives. 
Sometimes we forget that and people talk about just the negatives—but whether it’s the College of the Rockies, the hospital, the Rec Plex or the airport, these are anchors in town and it’s just about keying in on those and moving forward.

The biggest thing we can all do is take a glass-half-full type of attitude instead of focusing on any negatives. This is a challenge in any community. You need to get everyone thinking positively instead of fighting with each other. I have seen that in the past, where communities can get divided and keep spinning their wheels arguing. We need to come up with common solutions (that) everyone can rally behind and work toward bettering our community.