CEO, Art Van Furniture
Kim Yost is the CEO of Art Van Furniture, which he joined in October 2009. During his six years at Art Van, the leadership team implemented The Art Book: Business Plan, the Art of Execution and Game Books for sales events. The company also opened several new full-line Art Van Furniture, Art Van Pure Sleep, and Art Van Franchise stores within Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. His highly inspired leadership team has dramatically increased sales and market share over the past six years.
In 2013, Kim introduced the 68-Day Challenge to Art Van. This program is all about recognizing a goal, pushing yourself, taking action and sustaining ongoing growth. As a result of thousands of individual actions, Art Van has risen to new heights.
Prior to Art Van Furniture, Kim spent 13 years at The Brick, Canada’s largest furniture, mattress, appliance and electronics retailer. He was the driving force behind the opening of more than 200 stores. He developed the new “HomeShow Canada” brand as well as an Asian direct-buying service called First Ocean, and he produced “Brick Tube” to communicate with the Brick’s 7,000 employees. Under his leadership as CEO, sales at The Brick soared from $900 million to $1.7 billion in just six years. Kim has spent over 35 years in the retail industry in both Canada and the United States, with experience in sales, marketing, operations and executive management within a number of leading retail brands.
Kim has also become a published author with the publication of four books: the PUMPTITUDE trilogy and The Life Chest – Leave a Legacy. Soon to be released is his next book, The Life Chest ? Africa.
Kim attended Douglas College in Burnaby, British Columbia, where he studied marketing & communications and applied design.
*All biographical information is only current up to the date of the award.
