“The day to day philosophy of this company is what keeps me here. They truly look at every one that works here as family and there’s not much of that left today.”
Stan Redding was raised in Winnsboro Texas. “When I was a kid in grade school the population was 3,000. It hasn’t changed.” As a small-town kid, he played little league baseball and all the sports. “My father was in the grocery business, he had three in three different towns. He showed cutting horses and AQHA halter horses.” Stan would ride his horse to baseball practice.
He went to college at Texas A&M, College Station, working on a degree in animal science and business. “I saw what my buddies were making when they graduated and I found a run-down convenience store and a bank to loan me the money and at 21 years of age, I was a business owner. Until I was in my early 30s, I never had a job. I had every kind of business – convenience store, pawn shop, Gulf gas distribution, a used car lot.” He juggled several of them at the same time as well as trading and selling cutting horses. His first real job came through Cavender’s. “James Cavender, Sr. talked me into coming to Longview Texas and manage that store. I stayed there six months, and he sent me to be the manager in Hurst Texas, the largest store in the chain. I was there for four years – I learned the retail side of western wear.” Stan did all the hat buying for Cavender’s and Resistol (Hatco) hired him as a sales rep in California. He managed that territory for five years. “I had three kids born in California, and I didn’t want to raise them there. I wanted to go back to Texas, but I couldn’t match the money.”
He moved his family back to Texas and went to work for Vogt Silversmiths as their rep in Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. Susan and Keith Maddox called him and shared the good news that they bought American Hat company and wanted Stan to help them. He worked as a consultant for American Hat, selling hats along with Vogt in his territory. Stan was approached again by Hatco to join management as Vice President of Sales and Marketing in Garland, Texas. He accepted the position and remained there for almost ten years. In 2010 Hatco underwent an acquisition of which Stan was a key component. “I was promoted to President at that time. I implemented strategic processes to improve profitability.” He accomplished that goal and others, retiring in January 2014.
“My plan was to enjoy ranch life,” he said. He was called by Keith Maddox within two weeks of his retirement. Stan wanted to take at least a year off and try ranch life. “I’m very blessed that my youngest son, Rhett, and daughter-in-law built a house on the ranch, and he takes care of a lot of it. He does the cattle side and I do the horse side.” The twenty-year friendship between Keith Maddox, Keith Mundee, and Stan lasted the time of Stan’s year long retirement. To the day, his phone rang again, and this time Stan came back on board. “I’d had a year break from the corporate world. I recharged my battery. But the big thing that made me go back is the family. I had a real comfort zone with Keith and the crew at American hat. His whole deal is quality of life. Keith Maddox always said, ‘bigger is not better, better is better.’ The business plan hasn’t changed.”
He came back with some conditions. “As long as it’s exciting for me and I love it, I’ll stay. One year turned into 7.” The other condition was that spending time with his family and on his ranch in Winnsboro came first. “We bought a ranch when we moved back from California (2002). I used to ride my Shetland pony on when I was a kid.” The ranch wasn’t on the market, but all the locals knew it was for sale. “My dad told me about it. I called one of the sons and was told their sister wouldn’t sell to just anyone. All the linens were still in the closets. His sister was there when we looked at the ranch, and I told them my history and they sold it to us.”
Stan and his wife Kimberly have a total of 9 children and 11 grandchildren.
Kimberly created a brand of women’s apparel that has continued to catch the eye of the western world. R Cinco Ranch was created in 2014 and its tag line “It’s not just a brand, it’s a lifestyle,” has steam rolled. Kimberly’s background in women’s apparel was fashioned out of necessity. When her youngest son was diagnosed with cancer, her career as an accountant ended. She soon put her eye for design and her crafty talent to work and created a tie-dye and rhinestone T-shirt line that landed in Dillard’s. Two Mud Pies gave Kimberly a look into the fashion business. In 2014, she and Stan put their talents and years of experience together and launched R Cinco Ranch, named after the ranch. She has concentrated her efforts on American made clothing, made on the ranch. She has an exclusive line with Forrie Smith, Lloyd on Yellowstone, to create T-shirts. She also has one-of-a kind purses made in Oklahoma. “T-shirts are huge – we can do up to 400 shirts per show – and we do all the work at the ranch.” The wholesale side got way big too fast and something had to go. “It wasn’t going to be my family, so we downsized and now it’s something I can do and still be available for the family and support Stan.”
Stan has no end date. “I love the industry, the people, and the business. For the past 18 years, I’ve had an opportunity to work for a company of powerhouse brands (American Hat, Vogt, and Hatco).
