The Gazette

There is no arguing that Jake Jabs is one of the most successful and recognizable businessmen in Colorado.

His growing chain of American Furniture Warehouse stores - about to add a second huge store in Colorado Springs - is projected to do $350 million in sales this year, making it one of the state's five largest privately held companies.

With his advertisements in print, online, on the radio and, especially, on television with tigers and Brahma bulls, Jabs has been in the public eye for a generation.

When the company created its Web site a few years ago, it feared confusion with the American Furniture Galleries URL, so it went to www.jakejabs.com. Everybody got it.

After 30 years of seeing his white mane of hair and hearing his deep voice on ads, it's easy to see him only as this TV character, the merchant with furniture bargains to share, as if he had always been so.

Jabs is amused by this. As he approaches his 75th birthday Nov. 23, he has only to look at his seven living siblings to see the choices he might have made, the life he might have led.

How about Jake Jabs, musician? Or farmer? Or career military? Or educator? All of these were along the path he followed from the family's farm on a Crow Indian reservation in Lodge Grass, Mont. He just veered another way.

Jabs' parents, Adolph and Mary, were first-generation German immigrants who had lived in Russia and Poland. They were sharecroppers with a rapidly growing family and little money, yet they always managed to have music in the house, even in the harshest times.

"Lodge Grass had a school band," Jabs said, "and my dad made a deal with the instructor to get us instruments and I was playing in the Lodge Grass High School band when I was in second grade. The horn was bigger than I was.

"We always had instruments, whether it was the school band or our own band during high school. Dad played violin, my older brother guitar, my older sister piano and I played tin banjo. That was our band, playing country dances around Lodge Grass."

Growing up, part of Jabs' responsibilities was helping round up cattle on the reservation. He was always comfortable on a horse, and later competed on the Montana State rodeo team. He liked being around animals, which he says "explains why having animals in our commercials never bothered me."

Jabs and his older brother, Reinhold, worked their way through college at Montana State playing dances and bars every Friday and Saturday night.

After being in ROTC at Montana State, Jabs was commissioned into the Air Force and served two years active duty, principally in Morocco, and another six in the reserves, departing as a first lieutenant.

"It was an interesting experience," Jabs said. "I handled all the top-secret mail for the continent of Africa. I got flying pay, got to fly all over the continent."

While in Morocco, Jabs played in a band that appeared on the Armed Services Network and, on Sundays, he said, "we were wheeled out to the middle of the arena and played country-western music at the bullfights in Casablanca."

After the military, Jabs returned to the family farm until he hurt a leg when a horse fell on him. Winter was on its way, so Jabs took off to visit family in Canada and there lucked into a job with the Grand Ole Opry tour.

Jabs played a series of gigs in Alberta and the Northwest Territories of Canada and then had a brief run as a sideman on a Marty Robbins tour out of Nashville.

"If I could have sung like Marty Robbins I probably would have stayed in the music business," Jabs said, "but the life of a sideman, you just go from one job to another and starve in between. I'm too big to sleep in cars."

Jabs still keeps up with his music, hitting the karaoke scene, jamming with friends and occasionally playing at benefit events. He recently made a 15-track CD of his favorite songs.

The man who graduated from Montana State with a degree in vocational agriculture, planning to teach the Future Farmers of America at the high school level, has never taught school. All four surviving Jabs brothers majored in the same field, and two sisters had degrees in education as well.

He ultimately decided that he had made good money teaching guitar while going to school - $25 an hour - and "was playing music, which was a lot more fun than teaching school . . ."

The guitar lessons eventually led him to work with a friend on the $3,000 purchase of a music store in Bozeman, Mont. - the first step on a path that would take him into retail.

Not that Jabs has any doubts about the choices he's made, the life he's lived. He still works about 60 hours a week, still does all his own buying, making two trips a year to China. He has been married to Ann for 45 years, has three daughters and an obvious zest for living.

Well, with one exception. He doesn't like parties much. Especially birthday parties.

Asked what he would do to mark his 75th birthday, Jabs said "I'll go into work and then go home early. I think Ann will insist on that."

WHO HE IS

OCCUPATION:

President and chief executive officer of American Furniture Warehouse since buying the company for $200,000 in 1975. There are nine stores in operation now, two on the way and the planned 530,000-square-foot megastore at Powers Boulevard and Woodmen Road will be No. 12.

HOMETOWN:

Lodge Grass, Mont.

EDUCATION:

Bachelor's degree in Agriculture, Montana State College (now Montana State University)

PREVIOUS JOBS:

Owner of a music store in Bozeman, Mont.; coordinator of sales events for businesses throughout the western United States; owner of Mediterranean Galleries furniture stores, including one outlet on South Tejon Street, 1968-73.

FAMILY:

Wife, Ann, and three daughters

AWARDS:

National Home Furnishings Association 2000 Retailer of the Year, Western Home Furnishings Association 1999 Retailer of the Year, Presidential Achievement Award, Colorado Veterans of Foreign Wars Citizenship Award, Montana Small Business Person of the Year, Colorado Easter Seals Edgar "F" Daddy Allen Award, American Legion Community Service Award, Business with a Heart Award.

LITTLE-KNOWN BUSINESS FACTS:

• Jabs owns a small furniture-making factory in Montana - he's had it for 37 years - which produces a limited line of Southwest furniture he sells in the chain.
• About 55 percent of his inventory is constructed in Asia; he's now taking delivery on about 50 containers a month.
• Jabs' autobiography, "An American Tiger," was published in 2000.

JABS - ON BUSINESS

On being successful:

"We give our people a test every day. It's a (one-page) test about selling. Salespeople are graded on this and if they have too many wrong answers, all of a sudden there's a red flag. The main reason we are successful is we don't get merchandise back from customers. This kills most furniture stores. The numero uno, No. 1 problem in the furniture business is that they get so much back from the customer that (they) can't flush it back through the system. The point here is let's sell it right the first time."

On setting standards:

"There is no high pressure. We preach that every single day with our salespeople. Customers have buyer's remorse (if they are pressured). We just don't allow it. It's zero tolerance. Once they understand that, they learn to live with it. You can't expect good prices, a good delivery system and good commission salesmen - we only pay our salesmen 4 percent straight commission - and then expect a lot of service . . . "

On the growth of American Furniture Warehouse:

"Right now in Denver there are eight furniture stores going out of business. Seven of the eight are high-end stores. The reason for it is, we're selling a lot of highend merchandise. That leather couch right there sells for $991. If you went to a highend store they would probably want more than $2,000. . . . They just don't buy in the volume we do. What you are seeing (with our growth) is we are taking over a lot of that high-end business."