Furniture World News Desk on
9/4/2025
Theresa Devlin, Chief Executive Officer Creating Customers for Life
Retail veteran Theresa Devlin recently announced the launch of Creating Customers for Life, a consultancy dedicated to building thriving sales cultures, empowering leadership teams, and guiding retailers through the complexities of AI adoption, with a focus on keeping people at the heart of every customer interaction.
With more than 30 years of experience leading and developing high-performing teams in major retail organizations—including senior leadership roles at Ashley Furniture Industries, Best Buy, Kohl’s, Pier 1 Imports, and Winn-Dixie—Theresa has spent her career driving sales, cultivating leaders, and designing operational strategies that elevate both employees and customers.
“After decades in retail leadership,” said Devlin, “ I’ve seen that technology is powerful, but it’s the culture retailers build and the leaders they develop that drive lasting impact. With the rise of AI, the human element will become more important than ever.”
Creating Customers for Life’s core competencies:
- Leadership Development: Equips retail leaders with the tools to inspire, coach, and build retail cultures that endure.
- Sales Culture Transformation: Helps retailers to create environments where sales teams thrive, customers feel valued, and loyalty grows exponentially.
- AI Adoption Strategies: Assists organizations that want to integrate technology in ways that enhance but don’t replace or degrade human-to-human connections.
About Theresa Devlin: Devlin has held high-level information technology, operations and leadership training positions at Ashley Furniture, most recently serving as Senior Director of IT Retail Program Management at Ashley Retail Headquarters, leading CRM, Agile, and large-scale operational initiatives across national locations. She also served as Senior Project Manager of Sales and Operations at Ashley Furniture HomeStores, where she shaped processes that improved sales performance and operational excellence. As Senior Manager of Retail Training at Ashley Furniture Industries, she developed training programs that served to create leaders. Earlier in her career, she held leadership roles with Kohl’s, Pier 1 Imports, and Winn-Dixie, building a reputation for driving growth, profitability, and people-focused strategies. Creating Customers for Life leverages this wealth of experience to help retail organizations turn change into opportunity—building leadership strength, embracing AI, and creating customer experiences that stand the test of time. For more information, visit https://creatingcustomers4life.com.
