In August 2015, at the start of his junior year in high school, Gavin Sample got his first job stocking shelves, cashiering and assisting customers at Toys R Us in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Gavin was brought on as a temporary seasonal employee and was kept on the team after the busy Christmas season had ended. Throughout high school and into his first two years of college, Gavin made fond memories of helping people find the perfect gifts for birthdays and Christmas. Gavin enjoyed the great team of co-workers he had that made the insane Christmas shopping season a fun experience. Unfortunately, the store closed in April 2018 following Toys R Us filing for bankruptcy, but he worked there until one of its final days open.
Left: Gavin Sample with Geoffrey the Giraffe in May 2016.
Right: The front of Toys R US in Cape Girardeau, MO.
Left: A portion of the backroom at Harbor Freight Tools in Cape.
Right: The front of Harbor Freight Tools in Cape Girardeau, MO.
After that store closed, Gavin Sample quickly found a new job thanks to his previous manager at Toys R Us, Nathan, who reached out to him about joining his team at the soon-to-open Harbor Freight Tools, where he would be the store’s manager; Gavin gladly accepted. After training at the company’s Sikeston store in June, Gavin was a part of the team that opened the Cape Girardeau Harbor Freight store in July 2018. During his three years working at Harbor Freight, Gavin did much of the same work he had done at Toys R Us along with unloading early morning truck shipments and setting planograms. He enjoyed this role because, similar to at Toys R Us, he helped customers solve their problems; however, rather than locating a toy or video game that was someone’s desired gift, he had the opportunity to help contractors, tradesmen, DIYers, and everyday people find the tools that they needed to get their projects done. In June 2021, Gavin had a bittersweet goodbye with his colleagues at Harbor Freight Tools when he left to move to Kansas City to begin attending law school at UMKC.
Work in Progress.