He grew up in Anderson, Indiana, a General Motors factory town, graduating from Madison Heights High School in 1969.

In 1977 he joined the May Department Stores Company in St. Louis, where he spent five years in tasks ranging from financial analysis and planning to shopping center development and marketing.

[7] Laura Elder of the Houston Business Journal wrote that the chain "pioneered the superstore concept".

We simply took the retail business model of Toys R Us — giant single-category stores with large product selections and low prices — and applied it to books.

Hoover stepped down as chief executive officer in December, 1992 to return to retailing, but remained on as chairman of the board of directors.

[11][12] In 1994, using capital he had raised in a private placement and from small investors in Texas, Hoover opened two TravelFest stores in Austin and one in Houston.

The first, RoadStoryUSA, was planned to be a museum and entertainment center dedicated to the American road and all things connected with it.

The center's purpose is to create and sponsor outreach programs including social media, speeches, video and audio presentations, tours, and books and other printed and digital articles and publications.

[18] Hoover is the executive director and a board member of the American Business History Center.

[28] An updated version of the book re-titled The Art of Enterprise is available on dpdcart in pdf form.