By Nathaniel Smith, Staff Writer
]This week the spotlight falls on Coleman & Rhoads Furniture, one of the cornerstone businesses that helped transform West Frankfort into furniture capital of Southern Illinois.


Originally founded in 1973 as Coleman’s Corner by the father-son team of Brent and Archie Coleman, Coleman and Rhoads as it is known today came into being in 1980 when Steve Rhoads purchased the elder Coleman’s interest in the business. Rhoads, a Bloomington-Normal native and graduate of Illinois State’s University High School, graduated from Illinois State University in 1972 with a dual degree in Sociology and Political Science. In 1975 he was wed to Sandra (Book) Rhoads, a 1969 FCHS graduate, and moved to West Frankfort a year later.

In the 27 years since Rhoads became co-owner of the business, Coleman and Rhoads has grown to employ a dozen local residents and has undergone several changes, switching to the ‘Gallery’ system in the late 80s in an effort to allow customers to view what Rhoads described as a, “fairly complete representation of what a particular company has to offer” in an in-context setting. The business underwent a large expansion in1989 in order to create room specifically for their Thomasville Gallery, and has also incorporated Lane, Kincaid and Natuzzi Galleries in addition to offering other prominent brand names such as Tempur-Pedic bedding.

Long known for its creativity and innovation, Coleman and Rhoads writes, performs and directs its own local television commercials and also boasts an in-house decorating service. “We have three ladies on staff who are happy to go to a customer’s home and assist with their complete decorating needs. Their presence in the consumer’s home allows them to get a better idea of what kind of space they (the customer) are trying to fill and what they need to fill it. People are busy these days,” said Rhoads. “Their days are full and they sometimes don’t have the time to put toward decorating their entire home themselves. That’s where we’re happy to step in and give them a hand.”

Away from the store, Rhoads has also enjoyed success as a football referee, officiating Gateway Conference games for 25 years, spending nine years officiating at the Division I level and overseeing 8 NCAA championship games. “That’s my passion,” Rhoads said of officiating. “Those were some of the best years of my life”. Rhoads recalled one game in particular, the 1996 Division I-AA Championship game, noting that he had ‘flagged’ then Marshall standout and current New England Patriots superstar Randy Moss for unsportsmanlike conduct. “He jumped into the crowd after he caught his second touchdown, and that year we’d been told to put extra emphasis on players drawing attention to themselves while excluding their teammates,” said Rhoads. “It’s my claim to fame,” he added with a laugh, before pointing out, “He didn’t do it on his third and fourth touchdown catches.”
Though Rhoads said he enjoyed officiating tremendously, he realized he was missing out on some of his children’s activities during their youth, and retired to spend more time with family. His hiatus from football was not long lived however, and when his son David became involved in flag football during elementary school, Rhoads stepped into… the coaching arena, an experience that he called, “very fulfilling. I enjoyed it tremendously and it kept me involved in the game.” Rhoads ‘retired’ from coaching in 1999, but was once more lured back to the game he loves in 2001, when coach Jeff Rush asked him to help out with the Redbird football program. He has remained on the staff for the past seven years. “I appreciate the opportunity I’ve had to work for coaches Rush, Spence and the rest of the staff,” said Rhoads. “It has been a great opportunity to be involved with young people in a positive endeavor.”

When he’s not in the store or on the field, Rhoads remains busy manning a seat on the board of Southern Illinois Bank, of which he was an original member. “It’s something I enjoy a lot,” said Rhoads of his effort to support the local banking institution. Rhoads has been involved in many community-minded programs and ventures over the years, indeed too many to make note of in this space. “But I’m 57 now,” said Rhoads, “and I’m starting to realize there are limits to what I can do. But I still enjoy doing things to better the community. And this community in particular is full of people who make daily contributions in an effort to better our quality of life.”

There are a lot of volunteers, people who work behind-the-scenes to help make sure things get done, and they deserve as much credit as anyone else, if not more.”