by Karl K. Taylor

In the 1960’s, Washington (Illinois) had three family-owned furniture stores: one operated by George Herbst, another by Roy Sauder and a third by Benjamin Baurer.  George’s store on the west side of North Main was founded in 1941 by his father, R. G. Herbst, in a partnership with R. Klaus; the following year R.G. took full ownership.  (These two gentlemen were operating a store in nearby Eureka as early as 1934.) After the death of R.G. in 1954, George Herbst took over the business that depended primarily on customers from Washington.

The 1960s were the days when home folks bought their groceries at Lindy’s or the A & P, their meat at a local meat market, and their drugs at Steimle’s and later at Don’s Pharmacy.  Drs. Forrette, Monroe and Kinsinger were all readily accessible around the square.  All kinds of furniture and accessories, whether traditional, colonial or contemporary, could be found at the Washington Hardware and Furniture Company, owned by George Herbst and located on the Square.

In 1948, Roy Sauder was one of the first merchants to build a store west of the Square, called Sauder Brother’s Furniture, a two-story structure located west of Russell’s Cycling and Fitness Center.  This building sat in the middle of a pasture.  Sometime in the 1950s, when he decided to specialize in colonial style furniture, he secured one of the first Ethan Allen franchises in the country, attracting customers from Morton, Eureka, Metamora and even Peoria.

In 1957, Roy formed a partnership with his brother-in-law Benjamin Baurer that lasted until 1961.  By 1960, Ben and Roy realized their management styles were different, and they each had sons whom they wanted to bring into the business.  For a small store, there were too many chiefs for the number of Indians and the amount of business available.

So in 1961, Ben Baurer decided to venture out on his own.  With a gentleman’s agreement, Roy Sauder concentrated on a “colonial” style design with Baurer agreeing to sell primarily “contemporary” furniture.  Baurer opened his store at 1503 Washington Road on a desolate stretch of Route 24.  The local banks asked, “Who would go that far west to buy furniture?” They discouraged the site selection saying “the big furniture store on the town square, Washington Hardware and Furniture, would put him out of business in a year.” Obviously, they were wrong, but the reasons were not so obvious.  Baurer’s was not just another furniture store attracting customers from the immediate area, but from a larger trading area because their selection was greater than others, and the store was open at night when husbands and wives could browse and shop together.

Also in 1961, Ben Baurer brought his two sons, Dennis and Ron, into the business.  Ron had gone to Monmouth College (Illinois) on a football scholarship, but transferred, played football and graduated from Bradley University.  In 1979, Ron bought out his brother who wanted to pursue other activities.  When Ben Baurer retired in 1980, Ron took over the business.

In the more than forty years the business was in operation, many changes occurred.  In the beginning, Ron and his brother did almost everything in the store, putting in long hours—working from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.  They worked in the warehouse lifting heavy furniture, unloaded the semi-truck loads of furniture that arrived from the factories, and delivered purchases to customers’ homes.  As the years passed, the store offered customers the opportunity to place special orders instead of purchasing off the showroom floor, which greatly expanded the number of options and increased business in the store.

As a result, the building was eventually air conditioned, the floor covered with carpeting, the furniture arranged in rooms, and the parking lot paved.  Over the years, the building was expanded six times until it reached a total of 30,000 square feet.  In 1972, during one of those expansions, Baurer even had to buy additional land next to his building at what he thought was an unbelievable price – $10,000 an acre.

Nevertheless, it became one of the most attractive stores in the city of Washington, drawing customers from all over Central Illinois.

With changes in the building came changes in the way Ron did business.  Beginning in the 1980s he saw that the future was not in selling an isolated piece or two of furniture, but selling coordinated pieces for an entire room.  Interior designers were available to assist customers in planning entire room schemes, including draperies, rugs, carpeting, and accessories.  These designers worked with individual homeowners, analyzing their lifestyles and helping them select furnishings within a given space that would reflect those values and activities.  If this process necessitated a trip to the customer’s home, then the designers would provide that service.  Furniture that left the showroom underwent scrutiny with repairs and touch-ups being made before the merchandise left the store.  Likewise, upholstered furniture received a thorough steaming so it would arrive at its destination in pristine condition.  Baurer wasn’t selling just a lamp or a chair; he was selling whole rooms of furniture – sometimes all the rooms in a home – and he stood behind his product.

In 2009, Ron Baurer decided that he wanted to retire, to sit in the recliner that he had owned for years, but had never used.  He had been too busy.  However, in retirement, it’s not likely that he will spend much time in that chair.  He’ll be driving north to Geneva, Illinois, to play with his grandchildren or flying out to Connecticut to visit his daughter who works for EXPA Sports.  He may spend time playing Santa Claus at Christmas time for some civic organization or cooking pancakes for the Rotary breakfast at the Cherry Tree Festival.  Some night he might even get caught sticking pink plastic flamingoes in some friend’s front yard.  You see, Ron’s not only a businessman, but one who believes in having fun when he’s working.  That quality won’t change in retirement.

Years from now, history will record that the last independently – owned furniture store in Washington was opened by Ben Baurer in 1961 and closed by his son, Ron Baurer, in 2009, forty-eight years later.

Note: This essay was originally published by the Washington (IL) Historical Society in a booklet celebrating their annual banquet in 2010. We uncovered this gem when cleaning through dad’s papers. We miss him immensly, but his stories will live on.