Retailer Profile: William Glen Named National gia Winner

Owners: Privately Held/Family Owned
Number of Locations: Two
Store Size: 30,000 (William Glen) & 9,800 (William Glen Christmas & More)
Location: Sacramento, California
Number of Employees: Full Time - 45, Part Time - 15, Seasonal - 20
Web Site: www.WilliamGlen.com

Two Boys & A Couple of Chevies
Who could have known that a couple of French horns and two Chevies could have birthed a business as successful and loved as Sacramento's William Glen. The store has been voted by the readers of Sacramento Magazine as The Best Place to Buy a Special Gift for seven years running.

Founded in 1963 by William Snyder and Glen Forbes, William Glen began as a decorating studio and candle shop. Through the years, it has evolved to include a product mix that includes: gifts, decorative accessories, housewares, tabletop, and collectibles. The store's leaders have successfully predicted the needs and desires of its customers and community, while still honoring their initial mission -- "to provide customers with merchandise of the highest quality and finest design at fair and competitive prices, along with service that goes beyond their expectations in a nurturing environment that is pleasant, congenial, and efficient."

Synder and Forbes met over two French horns at California California State University, Sacramento. The two were supposed to be each others' competition -- they ended up being partners in a business that would see them through more than 40 years.

"After two years as a music major, I switched to business but after six weeks of doing macro and micro economics and accounting 101, I said 'I'll hire someone to do that for me,' and walked away from school. The next year, Glen and I thought about having a store and we formulated rough ideas of what we wanted to do. We started by traveling up and down California selling the Danish candles we were importing," explained Snyder.

In 1963, the pair ended up in a space three blocks from where Snyder had grown up.

"I worked out a deal with the landlord of a dime store for us to come and meet him," Snyder began. "Glen and I were both 21 years old. We put on suits and ties, dummied up a financial statement, and brought along cigars so we could impress them that we were old and mature."

They used their two Chevys as collateral for a $2,000 loan, rented the 1,211-square-foot site and opened it as an interior design and gift store. And the rest, as they say, is history.

"We have what you