Business: Family furniture store grows into a regional market
Published 12:00 am Saturday, October 11, 2003
In the midst of a remodeling project at Morris Furniture, there was a period when there was no parking lot, no power, and part of a wall was missing.
&uot;It was kind of scary,&uot; Operations Manager Paul Kenis said. &uot;But it makes you really appreciate the completion.&uot;
The four-generation family-owned furniture retailer doubled the size of their store from about 15,000 square feet to more than 30,000 square feet. During more than nine months of work, Morris added a new entrance surrounded by windows, transformed their warehouse into a showroom, built a new roof and replaced the lights.
Walking through the store is like walking through a lengthy one-story house that has three dining rooms, four living rooms and five bedrooms full of beds, tables, chairs, sofas and recliners.
&uot;I think the store is more open and free-flowing,&uot; Kenis said. He hopes the
expansion will allow customers to better imagine the furniture in their own homes.
Morris Furniture began in 1933 when Kenis’ great-grandfather opened a store in Mankato. Eventually, other stores were opened in Albert Lea and Austin. When Kenis’ grandfather took over the business, he combined the Albert Lea and Austin stores into the current one, which is located on East Main Street.
&uot;The area that this store is on used to be a cow pasture,&uot; Kenis said.
Now, with a freeway and myriad other retailers near the store, Kenis said the business is in an excellent location.
&uot;We’re right on the freeway and get business from all over because of that,&uot; Kenis said. He labels the business as a regional retailer, serving an area within a 65-mile radius. They also deliver furniture as far away as South Dakota.
Kenis said that a family rule requires each member to go &uot;do something else for a while.&uot;
Upon earning a business degree, Kenis managed a store in Mankato. After the hiatus from Albert Lea, he came back to manage the family business, taking over when his father &uot;semi-retired,&uot; Kenis said. Kenis referred to his father as semi-retired because he still regularly comes to the store, and he helped out with the expansion.
According to Kenis, one of the more difficult aspects of working in a family business is that some of your colleagues are also your family members. This translates to a lot of time spent with family.
&uot;I would work during the day with family and then go home at night to dinner with them,&uot; he said.
However, Kenis has discovered the key to maintaining good family relations: &uot;You have to leave your work at work.&uot;
Though Kenis is pleased with the Albert Lea business environment, he said changes in population have affected his store.
The population decrease &uot;is why we have had to become a regional store,&uot; he said. Sales and profits increased and consideration for expansion began.
To research for the expansion, Kenis and his father went to other furniture stores, took pictures and collected data. Then, with an architect, they laid the pictures out, considered the environment they wanted to create and made the changes.
&uot;It turned out better than I imagined,&uot; Kenis said.
(Contact Benjamin Dipman at ben.dipman@albertleatribune.com.)