by MIDDLETOWN, Pa. — Furniture First recently added two new members — Lastick Furniture of Pottstown, Pa., and Wood’s Mercantile of Clarkesville, Ga. In addtion, Sheely’s Furniture and Appliances of North Lima, Ohio., rejoined the buying group earlier this year, returning to take advantage to its networking and support as well as the group’s private label mattress line and merchandise rebates.
Founded in 1973, by Eli and Sonia Lastick with their son Jerold, Lastick Furniture is a fixture in downtown Pottstown. Daughter Marsha and her husband Martin joined the business in 1979, and the family still manages the business today. Lastick has been recognized as Mercury Reader’s Choice Awards for fifteen consecutive years and has received the honor of being named “Harry C. Kahn Memorial Retailer of the Year” by the Tri-State Home Furnishings Assn.
Wood’s Mercantile has been an established furniture store in the downtown Clarkesville area since 1961. Current owners, Kevin and Melissa Wood, purchased the store in 2019 and have renovated the interior of the building and updated the product lines offered to their customers, according to a release. They’ve kept Wood’s 60-year legacy alive “by offering quality brand options, providing job opportunities for families, serving the community, and providing excellent customer service to their neighbors,” Furniture First said.
Sheely’s, which rejoined earlier this year, was a Furniture First member from 2011 through 2018, and then joined another buying group in 2019. But they reapplied for membership in March after “leadership at the store found that the resources and networking provided by Furniture First could not be matched,” the release said.
“We’ve seen former members return before,” said Furniture First CEO Andrew Kauffman. “It shows the value of our retailer-to-retailer network. Where else can a store owner turn if they need a reference or advice? We recognize that the connection is something special and that’s why we create opportunities to reinforce it. Our bulletin board, performance groups and NextGen group are designed to reinforce the network.”
Furniture First is a cooperative national home furnishings and mattress buying group serving full line independent retailers with sales over $2 million. Collectively, the group sells $3 billion at retail with their approved merchandise programs in the 522 member storefronts. Furniture First occupies showrooms in Las Vegas (B530) and High Point (IHFC G-770) where they display products from several of the group’s approved vendors.
