We find that no matter what country we're in, if we hit the right economic notes and appeal to the mass market, we're able to build the business very, very rapidly.

You could have everything right but be in the wrong place. You think your business is no good, but really, the problem is your place is no good.

You really have to understand this isn't a business where you sit in the back room and do calculations - you have to be very concerned about employees and customers, because that's really what's going to bring you success.

I was able to solve enough big problems along the way that the sheriff didn't come along and put the 'bankruptcy' sign up.

I tell everybody there are only three things that we do. We build sales at the store level, we build profits at the store level, and we build more stores. The first two things go in tandem, of course. It's pretty tough to build profits without sales.

After 39 years of business, I'm still learning. I go through this every year -identifying new strategies that are extremely important.