By Alex Paul
Albany Democrat-Herald
Alex Paul/Democrat-Herald
Kent and Cathy Wilson have expanded their store by 11,000 square feet in a project that cost $500,000.

Kent Wilson grew up working in his family’s retail business in Indiana, so long hours weren’t anything new when he and his wife, Cathy, opened At Home Furniture in downtown Albany six years ago.

Today the Wilsons are celebrating the completion of a $500,000 remodeling project that includes an 11,000-square-foot addition to their store at 930 Hill St. S.E. (the former Coastal Farm & Ranch store). The project brings At Home’s total showroom space to more than 31,000 square feet. The store has another 5,000 square feet of warehouse space.

The remodeling work focused on adding lots of glass on the north side of the building, which faces Pacific Boulevard. The Oregon Department of Transportation estimates more than 28,000 vehicles pass by there each day. The Wilsons have already filled the addition with hundreds of new items for every room in the house.

“I have worked seven days a week since we opened, and, until recently, my wife did, too,” Wilson said. “We’ve put everything right back into the business.”

The Wilsons bought their current building a little more than two years ago and have been remodeling ever since. They added a covered entryway for customers and for load-outs, repainted and installed new siding, rock trim and carpeting. They also plan to drop the ceiling in the main part of the building. They recently surfaced and striped the store’s parking lot.

“I’ve always enjoyed owning my own business,” Wilson said. “We used to own Humpty Dump Trucking for several years. My wife had her own nail tech business and had worked in the furniture business in Salem.”

Wilson said the key to owning an independent business is staying involved 24/7.

“Our growth and success are because we’re here and involved with our customers and our staff,” Wilson said. “We will gladly make home consultations, and we enjoy sitting with customers and talking about their needs. It’s a difficult decision to buy new furniture. They know they want something different, but they don’t always know what that means and they’re afraid of making a mistake.”

Although independent store owners have to be on their toes at all times, Wilson said, there are advantages to being locally owned and managed.

“Being independent, we can make adjustments for our customers’ needs almost immediately versus a chain store,” Wilson said. “A chain store may take months to make transitions to inventory.”

Regardless of who they’re buying from, today’s furniture customers want “quality furniture at a fair price,” Wilson said.

They don’t want laminated particle board. They want solid woods like oak, maple or cherry. They also want a large selection. Wilson said his store offers products for every room in a home, as well as home offices, at a range of price points. For example, sofas start at $499 and go up to $1,499.

“We deal with at least 150 suppliers, and we can only have a sample of what’s available on the showroom floor at any time,” Wilson said. “That’s why it’s so important to talk with the customer and find out what they really want. We can get it for them.”

When the Wilsons started their business, Kent did all of the deliveries and his wife and one employee handled sales. Today they have 15 employees, including their daughter and daughter-in-law.

The store’s remodeling is being done in three phases, Wilson said. Phase 1 was the addition and exterior update. Phase 2 will be remodeling the main showroom and lowering its ceiling, and Phase 3 will be new paint, carpeting and lighting throughout.

The couple moved to Albany from Salem 10 years ago. Now, Kent Wilson believes, Albany is on the verge of major growth and an economic upturn.

“We’ve invested during the slow years in the belief that it’s going to pay off as things get better,” Wilson said. “We really think the entire community is going to blossom.”