The Founder
John Adams
Retail consultant. Mentor. The man who built this firm from the ground up — and built it to last.
1953 – 2025 · Consulting to retail since 1984 · Founder, The A Circle Inc.
West Virginia University, 1975
BS, Business Administration
Consulting since 1984
Founded The A Circle Inc., 2003
His Story
A career built in the stores, not in the classroom.
John Adams spent his entire adult life in and around retail. He started in the family business. He managed floors and buying desks in Las Vegas. He spent nineteen years as a merchandise analyst and regional director, building one of the strongest client practices in the industry — and then, in 2003, he walked away from a company whose new ownership no longer shared his values and started his own firm.
The A Circle was built on a single belief: that independent retailers deserve the same quality of disciplined, classification-level advisory that large chains take for granted. John had seen too many good store owners work too hard for results that never came — not because they lacked effort, but because they lacked the right framework.
He built that framework. And he refined it through decades of real client work, across nearly every category of specialty retail, from coast to coast.
“We don't sell reports. We build relationships. And a relationship only works if the client is better off at the end of every month than they were at the beginning.”
— John Adams, Founder
The Career
Forty years in the field.
1975 – 1982
The Family Business
John Adams began his career the way many of the best retail minds do — inside a family business. For seven years he worked in and helped grow the family operation, developing a ground-level understanding of what it actually takes to run a retail store: the buying decisions, the floor discipline, the margin pressure, and the customer relationships that make or break an independent retailer.
1975
West Virginia University
John earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from West Virginia University in Morgantown, WV, with an emphasis on Management and Marketing. That foundation in business fundamentals — combined with his hands-on retail experience — became the basis of everything he built.
1975 – 1984
Las Vegas Retail
Before launching his consulting career, John spent years on the retail floor in Las Vegas in increasingly senior roles: Department Manager of Men's Sportswear at Broadway Department Stores, Department Manager and floor supervisor at Sam's Town Western Emporium, and General Manager and Buyer at Schwartz Big & Tall Men's Clothing Stores. He learned the business from every angle — operations, merchandising, buying, and people management.
1984 – 2003
RMSA — Building a Practice
In September 1984, John joined Retail Merchandising Service Automation (RMSA) as a Merchandise Analyst. Through hard work and persistence he built a strong client practice, became Regional Director in 1994, and was recognized as a top producer — earning a place in the Presidents Club five years in a row. He mentored and developed other analysts, led the Field Advisory Board, and helped grow the company.
2003
The A Circle — Founded
In January 2003, after 19 years at RMSA, John made the difficult decision to leave when a change in ownership brought a philosophy that conflicted with his own standards for client relationships. He founded The A Circle Inc. to carry on the work on his own terms — a firm built around a genuine handshake agreement with clients, not a long-term contract. The A Circle would take a more holistic approach than anything he had done before, bringing a rigorous, classification-level planning discipline to every engagement.
2003 – Present
Coast to Coast
From its founding through its current form, The A Circle has helped independent retailers across the United States manage over $20 million in annual inventory investment. John consulted across nearly every specialty retail category — women's apparel, men's clothing, footwear, gifts, luggage and handbags, books and stationery, bike shops, and golf stores. His methodology, built over forty years of field work, is the foundation this firm still runs on today.
The Man
Beyond the work.
John Adams
Family
The Work
Retail categories John served
Over $20 million in annual inventory managed across specialty retail from coast to coast.
His Philosophy
No long-term contract. Just a handshake.
John never believed in locking clients into long-term agreements. His philosophy was simple: if the retailer is achieving the desired results, they will want to continue the relationship. Most of his new clients came from referrals — satisfied clients who had seen their inventory discipline, cash flow, and profitability improve month after month.
That philosophy carries forward in everything The A Circle does today. Month-to-month engagements. One dedicated advisor. Results that earn the relationship — every single month.
John's standards live inside every engagement we run. His insistence on accuracy, accountability, and genuine partnership is the foundation this firm was built on — and it is the standard we hold ourselves to, in every client relationship, every month.
The Legacy Continues
Work with the team John built and trusted.
Cindy, Joe, and Sam carry forward the same methodology, the same standards, and the same commitment to independent retailers that John established over forty years of work.