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Lyon County, Kansas

FAMILY OPERATION

Five Guions Work at Furniture Business

When the phone rings at Guion’s Furniture Showcase, the chances are pretty good that a Guion will answer. Five Guions work at the family-owned business in west Emporia: John and Jane Guion, sons Mike and Jim Guion and Mike’s wife, Marie Guion.

As John and Jane Guion think more seriously about retirement, Mike and Marie are preparing to take their place, although Mike says that time is “a long ways off.” For Mike Guion, the preparation began years ago, when he helped his dad, who operated the Benner-Williams store in downtown Emporia.

“We kids grew up in the business,” he said, recalling his early days when he cleaned the store, made deliveries and then moved up to on-floor sales.

He worked for another business for a couple of years, but decided that working with the family was best for him.

“You learn what you don’t have” when you work for someone else, he said.

When the Benner-Williams store closed, the Guions decided to try going their own way in the furniture business, taking over the building at Sixth Avenue and Prairie Street that had formerly housed the David’s Discount Store and later a Dock 44. They started small, Mike Guion remembers, trying to fill half the space, “learning to crawl” as they went along. Now the store is bursting at the seams, he says, as the 16-year-old business has become an integral part of the Emporia community.

Over the years, Mike Guion says, he doesn’t think he’s ever worked for his dad — the two have worked together and have developed a friendship that goes beyond the father-and-son relationship. Because of that relationship, he calls his father John, rather than Dad.

“We have a good time working together,” he said, sure that he made the right decision to stick with the family business.

These days, John Guion handles the appliance-buying end of the business as well as the advertising. Mike Guion is responsible for the rest of the retail merchandise and Jim Guion is the store’s service technician. Jane Guion spends a good deal of her time at the store and Marie Guion has cut her teaching duties at St. Joseph School in Olpe to half time after 20 years. She now spends her mornings in the classroom and her afternoons at the store.

The secret to success, Mike Guion said, is a staff of easy-going people who enjoy what they do.

“Most of the people who work here feel like part of the family,” he said.

In fact, many former employees stay in touch with the business. Students who worked for the Guions during their years at Emporia State University drop by when they’re in town, bringing news of their children and sharing fond memories of their time at the store.

Mike and Marie Guion don’t have children, so he isn’t sure what will happen when the time comes for them to look for a successor.

“I’ve got a lot of nieces and nephews,” he said. “We’ll see.”
(Emporia Gazette ~ Saturday ~ 15 March 2008)