Sunnyland Furniture sales executive Mike Hayes passes away

Casual Living Staff -- Casual Living, 1/2/2013 10:55:55 AM

DALLAS - Mike Hayes, a sales executive with Sunnyland Furniture, passed away Dec. 20 after a brief illness, the Dallas-based retailer announced. He was 72 years old.

Hayes passed away peacefully surrounded by his wife and immediate family at a Plano,Texas hospital, according to an email from Sunnyland Furniture President David Schweig.

Hayes loved his Oklahoma Sooners, and spent more than a quarter of a century doing what he loved best - selling outdoor furniture. He began his outdoor furniture selling career in the mid-1980s with Inside Out Furniture and then moved to Elegant Casual Furniture, where he managed the store and still was able to be their top salesman. After Elegant went out of business, Hayes became part of the Sunnyland Furniture family in 2002.

"For the next 10 years, Mike Hayes was the top sales producer on our sales floor every year," Schweig said in the email. "He was instrumental in raising the bar as the consummate professional on our sales floor that became the envy of the outdoor casual furniture industry."

Hayes' family requested that any donations made in his memory be sent to:

Union Gospel Mission
3211 Irving Blvd.
Dallas, TX 75247
(214) 637-6117
Ugmdallas.org

Sunnyland Furniture will host a celebration of Hayes' life at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 8 at the store. Please RSVP to either Schweig or Kelley Reeder at david@sunnylandfurniture.com or kelley@sunnylandfurniture.com.