Aaron’s general manager and sales manager attended Dowagiac Union High School at the same time.

Actually, their dads went to DUHS together and played trombone and drums in the Chieftain Marching Band.

Jeremy Truitt started last April after attending Central Michigan University to study broadcasting and was promoted to GM in July.

Truitt grew up at Sister Lakes, the son of Kent and Judy, and graduated from Union High School in 2002.

At CMU, “I ended up switching from broadcasting to business,” Truitt recalled Friday.

“I minored in broadcasting and journalism. I managed a deejay company up there (in Mount Pleasant) and started my own when I came back. I like working here.”

The Cadillac owner of Great American Rent to Own and Fresh Start converted to Aaron’s in 2008 and also has a store in Three Rivers, with plans for Ionia next.

“We’re planning a big event on April 23,” Truitt said. “Our mascot, Lucky Dog, will be here, along with a bounce house for the kids, a deejay and we’re going to be grilling out. We did it last year and had about 200 people show up. We’re going to give away a flat-screen TV and 200 other prizes.

“We’re trying to get the word out because before I worked here I didn’t know that you could just come in here and buy things outright because we do retail. We do price match with Wal-Mart and Best Buy and offer four months same as cash on everything, so people don’t have to lease to own, but if they want, they can. Three-fourths of our business is probably still lease to own.”

Christmas is a busy time at Aaron’s.

So is tax time, when customers get their refunds.

“We added 170 customers last year,” Truitt said, “and we’re trying to continue growing. The fourth quarter — October, November, December — was definitely good for us.”

“Summer’s slower” because people are outside, enjoying the beach or family vacations, and Aaron’s sells inside merchandise, such as home furnishings, appliances, computers and electronics.

“When it’s back-to-school time, we sell a lot of laptops,” he said. “When it’s Super Bowl time, we sell a lot of TVs.”

There are six employees, including two who do deliveries.

“We have customers all the way up to South Haven and Bloomingdale” after promoting Aaron’s with a booth at the Van Buren County Fair in Hartford, as well as the Cass County Fair.

“As far as Jones, Benton Harbor, Baroda, Lawton and Lawrence,” Truitt said.

“We make it easy for people to pay online or over the phone, so we have some customers who literally have never set foot in the store,” Truitt said. “We delivered a china hutch the other day to a woman who bought it retail. They get an automatic 20-percent discount for purchasing outright with cash. Ruby’s very comfortable with sales and speaks English and Spanish fluently, so she was a great hire. I’ve been amazed at the word of mouth. We have a pretty good referral program. If people send a friend in, we take money off their account. When I worked at Best Buy in South Bend, out of 120 people, there were four or five who spoke Spanish. The other day I went down to Creative Vinyl and bought a sign for on the front letting people know we speak Spanish.

“We didn’t hire Ruby just because she spoke Spanish. If she was a terrible employee who spoke Spanish, that wouldn’t work out well, but she’s fantastic. She’s a hard worker and a great salesperson who tries to learn every day. She’s done everything she can to reach out.”

Ruby Duarte

bilingual saleswoman

Ruby Duarte, of Decatur, grew up in Idaho and moved to Michigan from Texas, where she worked in a pawn shop.

She started at Aaron’s in November.

“Pawn shops are really growing because there’s a need,” said the mother of six. “Every day is something new. You don’t know what to expect.”

She lived in Idaho until she was 13.

“I like Michigan because it reminds me of my childhood.”

In Texas, her family lived near McAllen.

She enjoys being a bilingual salesperson because “I can help people and break it down for them” in a language in which they feel comfortable.

“My fiance works at Oil Can Alley and gives out my cards. I can see the relief on their faces because it feels so good to have someone who understands them. Honestly, a lot of Hispanics can’t afford cash outright. They’re happy to make their payments because they understand what their payment is going towards.

“I’ve only been in Michigan since July, but I did volunteer work at the clinic, helping with translating. I don’t get any negative reaction, but in the beginning I felt weird about the people I work with.

“In Texas, there are a lot of Chinese who do nails,” and she felt excluded from their discussions.

“I didn’t want to feel uncomfortable with the people I work with” by conversing in Spanish. “But I show them (words and phrases) whenever I can and they’re picking it up as well. I learned Spanish at home and picked up English at school.”

She and her fiance have known each other for 13 years, but lost contact for nine.

“I started off (in Michigan) selling tamales. In a day alone I could sell 12 dozen,” Ruby said. “I like snow. This past week my 90-day probation was over. Michigan is where I want to be. My kids feel comfortable here. My daughters help children who don’t speak English. We actually talk about why (more businesses don’t hire Spanish-speaking salespersons). I believe if that’s something they had, their companies could grow. Myself, if I walk into a store and all they have is boy clothes, I’m not going to feel comfortable. If they have a variety of both, I feel more confident that I can get something. It’s hard to walk into a store where if you have a question, nobody can help you answer it. Hispanic culture is spreading.”

Gary Sarabyn

sales manager

Gary Sarabyn started in delivery six years ago and worked his way up to sales manager by fall 2010.

He likes that “I’m always busy. I get to interact with a lot of people. I know the whole customer base. I’m pretty much on a first-name basis with 570 people. I get along with everyone I work with, it’s a good environment, I’m from Dowagiac, so I like the town. We try to keep that local feel of a hometown business. We’re Aaron’s, but we’re a franchise,” so they enjoy some latitude in adhering to corporate policies.

“We greet everyone and try to make our customers feel like they’re part of our family. It’s kind of like a family here.”

Sarabyn, a 2004 DUHS graduate, worked at Saylor’s part-time for three years, at Spruce Ridge during high school and at Five-Mile Drive-In when Tyrakowskis owned it.

Sarabyn’s mom, Lisa, is a manager at Pamida. His step-dad, Dave, works for the Timbers of Cass County after 15 years at Borgess-Lee Memorial Hospital.

“I know a lot of people in this town, so staying around here would be ideal for me,” Sarabyn said.

As sales and service manager, he does a lot of outside marketing, promoting events such as the Lucky Dog cookout in April.

“I do a lot of phone sales and door-to-door marketing,” Sarabyn said, “pretty much anything we can do to get people into the store. I’ve stood outside Harding’s giving out gift cards. The merchandise part of it, making sure I have what I need in the showroom by going over the orders with Jeremy.”

Sarabyn went through high school with the intention of becoming an elementary teacher.

“I went to (Southwestern Michigan College) for three semesters studying elementary education and did a little bit of work at Kincheloe, tutoring type stuff with the kids. I realized I work well one on one, but big groups of kids kind of drove me crazy. My cousin works with a lot of kids in physical therapy. I like working with people.”

After a couple years out of the classroom, Sarabyn switched gears and studied criminal law.

“I finished that (two-year program) up at SMC last summer. I’m actually enrolled at KVCC (Kalamazoo Valley Community College), though I haven’t taken any classes yet. I’m seven credit hours away from (police) academy. I’m kind of waiting to see what happens with this, if I get moved” to a new store.

“If I get into (academy), there’s no turning back,” he said. “I like what I do here and if I got an opportunity to have my own store, I’d rather do that. I like doing this and wouldn’t mind making a career out of it. Sales manager’s nice, but I’d rather be the boss.”