Former Costco VP joins Abbyson board

LOS ANGELES — Mike Pollard, retired VP of Costco Wholesale, has joined the board of directors of Abbyson Living, which manufactures and imports living room, dining and bedroom furniture.

Pollard retired from Costco Wholesale in 2013 after a 27-year career. Abbyson Living will look to Pollard for his guidance regarding comprehensive business practices that will directly impact the company’s growth and further mature the value of the brand.

"Some of the goals I'd like to see Abbyson accomplish in the future relate to customer service and the expansion of their drop ship model. They are taking ownership of this drop ship model, bringing it in-house, and I want to be a part of that. I think it's a very smart thing to do, to take ownership of the relationship with your customer from the beginning to end," said Pollard.

Pollard started with Price Club / Costco Wholesale in 1985 and held various management positions in warehouse operations, international, international, IT and e-commerce through 2013. He played a significant role starting the Costco businesses in Korea, Taiwan and Japan. More notably he played a key role in starting and operating the Costco e-commerce businesses, Costco.com and Costco.ca, from start-up through $2 billion in annual sales.

As Abbyson Living plans to launch its new outdoor patio furniture collections this summer, Pollard's involvement will be critical in the transitional stage of Abbyson's evolution into a cross category leader. "I expect Abbyson Living will continue to grow very rapidly. We'll get into new businesses, new categories of furniture. The lawn and garden and outdoor patio living will be a significant part of the business in the near term," added Pollard.