Mike Duke Quotes

Commerce was the best job I could ever have.

I used to sell furniture for a living. The trouble was, it was my own.

I'm in the retail business, not the circus business.

I got into retailing because I wanted a real job.

Maybe I was born to be a merchant, maybe it was fate. I don't know about that. But I know this for sure: I loved retail from the very beginning.

I spent my time, growing up, essentially between two things: technology and retail. I was fascinated by selling and loved the idea of making a profit, but I also spent a lot of time on technology.

The people that are running the bulk of the comic shops in North America aren't business people and they don't understand sales. They don't understand good product.

England is a nation of shopkeepers.

No one in my family had a retail or marketing background. They were professionals. They didn't understand just what I was doing by going into retailing. After I started, though, it got into my blood. I knew this was what I wanted.

My parents own a restaurant in Albuquerque.

I have wanted to run my own business since my time at Clitheroe grammar school. I remember thinking if I could get a penny from everyone in Britain, I would earn £208,000 a year.

Working in a store and being a shop assistant, if you don't know what to do and you like fashion, I think it's a great way of getting into the business because you do windows, cleaning, and everything. That was my school for two years, working in a shop, and that's how I met people in magazines and designers.

I think by my father owning a store, I was definitely aware of the commercial aspect of selling clothes. His shop was a place I enjoyed spending time in as a boy, so I learned things almost by osmosis at times, by literally just being around all the action and not really despite myself.

Most of my career has been in sales. I spend 50% or more of my time with customers and employees, and I can't wait for it to be more than 50%.

I'm a businessman, and what I know is numbers and business.

Business, numbers, negotiations, all that stuff I wouldn't go near.

My mom and I had a kids' clothing store called Smooch for six years, and I did all the buying before I even had kids.

I don't like department stores. I had a chain of department stores back in 1994 which was Lewis's and Owen Owen, only for a short time, and I found department stores personally difficult.

I actually did use to sell shoes.

We know full well we cannot sell where we do not buy and we cannot sell successfully where we do not carry.

I'm a business guy. I'm not a politician.

Texas is made for trade.

I'm a firm believer in the circle of commerce.

I see myself in business. I'm good with numbers. It's just something that interests me.

My father built a small manufacturing business. I worked alongside him and saw firsthand the challenges that business owners face.