Daily News
From Home Furnishing Business
Furniture First Adds Four New Members, Celebrates 25th Anniversary
April 4,
2019 by Laurie Northington in Business Strategy, Industry 
Furniture First, a national furniture and mattress buying group, has announced the addition of four new members, coinciding with its upcoming 25th anniversary gala set for Saturday, April 6 at the Grandover in Greensboro, N.C.
The four retailers approved by Furniture First’s Board of Directors last month include Dubois Furniture in Waco and Temple, Texas; Amini’s Galleria, with locations in St. Louis, Missouri, and Overland Park, Kansas as well as Tulsa and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Family Furniture & Carpet in Leesburg, Florida; and Reed’s Furniture in Agoura Hills and Oxnard, California.
The additional members come as Furniture First prepares to celebrate its 25th anniversary with a gala at the Grandover in Greensboro this Saturday. Members as well as merchandise and service providers have been invited to attend.
The cooperative buying group was founded in 1994 by a group of five retailers who were then clients of Media Marketing Associates. Two founding members are still active with the group today: Kloss Furniture in Highland, Illinois and Great Deals on Furniture in Martinez, Georgia. The founders drew up the bylaws for the cooperative and started recruiting other furniture retailers to join them.
Several charter members, who have been with the group since 1994, are still active with Furniture First today: Bilt Rite, Greenfield, Wis.; Butterworth’s Furniture, Petersburg, Va.; Ernie’s, Ceresco, Nebr.; Old Brick Furniture, Albany, N.Y.; Oskar Huber Furniture & Design, Southampton, Pa.; Pilgrim Furniture City, Southington, Conn.; Short Furniture, Litchfield, Ill.; Smith Village Home Furnishings, Jacobus, Pa.; Sylvan Furniture, Lewiston, Idaho.
“The Gala has given us a reason to take a look at where we started and where we are today,” said Andrew Kauffman, CEO of Furniture First. “When we launched, the goal was to have about 60 members and 12 to 15 suppliers. Today our members collectively operate more than 500 retail locations and we work with more than 170 merchandise and service partners.”