March 28, 2024

Store for Homes celebrates 20 years

Store for Homes furniture in Newton is approaching its 20-year anniversary celebration and owners Brian and Nicki Shores are planning an event for the public to attend next week.

Brian Shores has been with Store for Homes since the 1990s and shortly after its inception, he bought out the majority of the store from his partner who started the company.

“I bought the majority of it in 1999 — Sept. 15 of ‘99,” Shores said.

For Shores, the desire to own a furniture business began when he was young and working for other stores that provided the same services. When the opportunity arose to help out the previous owner, Shores jumped at the chance.

“I started in the furniture business when I was 20,” Shores said. “I was in the retail business for three or four years. I wanted to run my own store.”

Through Shores’ 20 years of owning the furniture store, he said the changes haven’t been in the products they sell — aside from materials getting better — but more the options customers have to shop for these products.

“The biggest change obviously has been online and how people shop,” Shores said. “People can find you from farther away than they used to.”

While some may see the reliance on the internet an issue for some businesses, Online access has given Store for Homes the ability to reach customers they might not have reached otherwise.

“I think it’s been better, actually. It’s easier for us to get customers from out of town,” Shores said.

Shores does have a favorite part of the job after two decades of ownership. What he enjoys mosts is being involved with the community’s furnishing needs.

“I think just dealing with the customers every day. Just getting to know people in the community,” Shores said.

As most people know, furniture can become quite expensive when customers are looking for products to fill their homes but Shores wants those who may not know he has a little bit of everything.

“We try to have something for every price range ... We are not the biggest store but we try to have the most selection in that price range, in each category,” Shores said.

While Store for Homes typically focused on furniture, the option to buy flooring such as tile or carpet and having it installed is now available to customers since inventory from The Floor Store was brought under the Store for Homes’ wing.

“There’s a lot of furniture stores that have both. It’s just kind of a natural fit ... (The owners Dan and Margaret Ellis) were going to retire. It just kind of worked out,” Shores said.

To commemorate Store for Homes’ accomplishments, the Great Newton Area Chamber of Commerce and shop will host a celebration from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Sept. 26 at the store with the ribbon cutting at 5 p.m. Hors-d’oeuvres and drinks will be served following the ceremony.

“(The event is) a thanks to the customers over the past 20 years that made it possible to do what we did,” Shores said.

Contact Dustin Teays at 641-792-3121 ext. 6533 or dteays@newtondailynews.com