WITH decades of well-satisfied furniture customers to reflect back on, Hamilton Furnishing Company’s David Hayes recently retired – well sort of – from the long-standing business.

The genial and knowledgeable salesman has clocked up 37 years helping locals find and select everything from dining tables and sofas to beds and bedroom tables, and although his last official day was on August 3, he has been back in the store since then helping out, as a staff member was on paternity leave.

It was an opportunity for him to look back on his long career in the industry and on challenges such as the increased choices available now, and other changes he’s seen over the journey.

“Furniture’s a tough thing … you never stop learning,” David said.

“It’s a family business – my grandfather started the business in 1948.

“I was a motor mechanic for 12 years and then I came here.”

In fact, David’s reputation as an excellent mechanic is still remembered by older generations in town – he has loved Holdens, especially his HZ Kingswood and VE Maloo.

But he was happy to talk about the ongoing contentment of finding a piece of furniture that matched what people were looking for.

“Probably the biggest thing is just to find something for people that they really want,” David said.

“I had some people before and they were talking about a couple of suites here that they liked, but they said, ‘oh they’re not quite what we want’ – so we found a suite that they’ve ordered which is going to suit.

“Everyone’s got a different thing – it would be alright if everybody coming in wanted the same thing, (but) a lot of people come in and they’ve hunted high and low to find exactly what they want – and you can sort of point them in the right direction.”

Singling out a lounge suite near where he was standing, David said the customisations available for that particular furniture piece were a great example of how he needed to keep abreast of the possibilities available so that what was on the showroom floor wasn’t the only item he could offer to customers.

“We’ve sold heaps off that couch, because you’ve got all the options you can do with it,” he said.

David’s son, Andrew, has now worked there since 2012, making him the fourth generation to be part of the business and he backed his father’s long-term career as something to look up to.

“There’s no substitute for experience,” Andrew said.

“I think he’d probably be the best-known furniture man in town.”

Andrew said he especially respected the way his father would “have a red-hot go” at meeting customers’ demands and told a story to evidence this.

“There was a guy who came in and he had been searching everywhere for this particular corner suite,” he said.

“He said he only wanted a recliner on one end and they all come with two recliners.

“He said, ‘I want it in bright red fabric – I’ve been everywhere’, and David said, ‘I can do that’.

“The look on the bloke’s face was like, hang on, you’re going to go that extra mile for me?

“(We) ended up supplying and the guy became a good customer after that because he knew that we wouldn’t just settle for ‘no – we can’t do that’.”

With his son emphatic about maintaining the business’ reputation, David said he decided to retire about 18 months ago but allowed the extended period so that a handover process could be undertaken for his brother, Brian, and Andrew to be “more involved in the front of the shop, which is customer knowledge and serving”.

“I’m doing more deliveries than what I did earlier,” David said.

“It was better for me to take a backward step – (I’m) still here to help if they need it, but (now) I just do deliveries and make it easier for that transition period.”

David said he has fond memories of when the business turned 50 and they ran a competition “for the oldest receipt for a piece of furniture people still had”.

“It was amazing, some of the reaction we got,” he said.

“We had a lady come in and she had some beds she bought off us 50 years ago that she was still using.

“There was dining settings and all that people still had in their homes.

“It was a really good promotion because it made people think what they’d bought off us.”

The returning customer was always a source of great satisfaction to him and he had a few sage words about his sales principles that he abided by.

“You mightn’t see them for 10 years because they buy a good quality thing and then they come back and they need to replace something else,” David said.

“You’ve got to be upfront with people. You want them to have a good experience and come back again.”

David said he will still be in the French St store from time to time to cover staff shortages and lend a hand, but overall, retirement was looking good.

“Just being able to travel and do my own thing – not have to be watching the clock all the time (thinking) I’ve got to be at work,” he said.

“(I’ll) spend some time with the grandkids (and) be able to go to their school things and all that.”