Abode Home Furnishings - Meet Mike Roche

I grew up outside Buffalo, New York, and went to the State University of New York at Buffalo, where I got a BA in English literature. Not knowing how I was going to put my degree to use, I enrolled in the manager trainee program at Pier 1, which was where I met Carl. Our first assignment was to help open a store in Rochelle Park, New York. We were total rookies, but the guy who was supposed to be the manager was never around, so we were pretty much left to our own devices. It was trial by fire, but a great learning experience too.

In those days, Pier 1 was a very different place. The best way I can describe it, is like a glorified head shop. The store d�cor was very rustic, with plywood shelves covered in burlap, and we had a really exotic mix of merchandise, including live plants, pet fish, clothing, brass hookahs, Japanese cookers�we even carried suits of armor and rickshaws at one time.

Over the next 10 years, I moved around with Pier 1, opening stores in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and, finally, in West Los Angeles, California. Throughout that time, Carl and I kept in touch, and in 1983 we decided to open our own store together. Having been through it many times before, by this point we definitely knew how to do it right.

Now, 25 years later, I can say it's really been great for us. There's nothing better than owning your own business. Not only does it give us greater personal freedom, what's equally valuable is that it gives us the freedom to run our store as we see fit, rather than being subject to the dictates of corporate policy or absentee management. I think how we treat our employees is a good example of that. In fact, I know that the way we've been able reward and retain good employees over the years is something that Carl and I both feel very proud about. Owning our own store has been very exciting and challenging for the last 25 years, and I'm very much looking forward to the next chapter and establishing our new brand Abode.

So, obviously, I never did end up putting my degree to use in my professional career. However, literature is still one of my true passions. I am a voracious reader. When I discover a new author I haven't read before, I tend to read everything they've ever written. I read a lot of novels, but I also read non-fiction too. My other passion is bicycling, and if I can combine the two, so much the better. Over the last few years I've been doing cultural excursions where a group of us will ride around Europe or the western US, and, in addition to riding 100 or more miles a day, we'll also tour museums or sites of geographical interest.