BY MIKE GILMORE

mgilmore@GBTribune.com

LARNED — Six years ago, longtime Larned residents Jim and Suzan Haynes took over ownership of the furniture store that has served as an anchor for downtown Broadway businesses in the community since Vane Tabler opened the business in 1952.

“Our idea was to preserve what was already here and to expand on it, to promote Larned and keep Larned thriving,” Suzan said. 

The couple has maintained their commercial specialty electric contractor business for many years, but the move downtown was a new venture. “We were new to the furniture business in 2017, but we certainly weren’t new to business; we knew how to run a successful business, so we were optimistic about the future,” Suzan noted.

Since 2017, the downtown store has grown by leaps and bounds to seven showrooms full of quality furniture, appliances, mattresses and flooring. Their design team, led by Kari Moreton, has the expertise to add a “special something” to room decor and is available for an in-home consultation.

“Kari does a fabulous job fitting everything together, doing all the decorating. She and I both go into people’s homes and help them place furniture and decide on what works,” Suzan said. “We offer free design service, which is really nice. We’ve done quite a bit of that lately and our customers just really love it. We do the big pieces and the little pieces.”

Some of the name brands include: Ashley Furniture, Best Home Furnishings, GE Appliances, La-Z-Boy, Restonic Mattresses, and Speed Queen washers and dryers. They are now a Bosch appliance dealer with more than 15 dishwashers in stock, as well as ovens, refrigerators and microwaves.

“It is important to us to offer products from dependable companies, and many of them produce goods that are made in the USA,” Suzan said.

There is a worldly feel to the accessories they offer as well, in Turkish lamps and Polish pottery. 

During their travels, they found a quaint little shop that sold glass bead and mosaic lamps. Each one is handmade and truly a work of art – they add an extra beautiful glow to any area in a room. Suzan also fell in love with the hand painted/glazed Polish pottery. “Whether you pick a favorite pattern to collect or combine multiple patterns, there is no wrong way to enjoy Polish pottery,” Suzan noted.

Their customer service department provides home delivery free of charge.

“Certainly, our customer service, our delivery guys, get phone calls all the time to tell them how good our customer service has been,” she noted.

Six years and counting

“Obviously, Jim and I are longtime Larned residents and supporters and we just want to continue with that trend. I feel like the nation as a whole is maybe in a downward turn, but we are certainly not here,” Suzan said. “We’ve really been thriving and I think our name is really getting out there. We have more and more people who are traveling in from out of town.”

The store delivers regularly to Wichita, Derby, Manhattan in the east and Dodge City in the west. “We’re in the center of the state so there is room to expand out,” Suzan said. “Lots of times, three or four ladies will come here from Manhattan or from Dodge and just make a day trip to come here. While they’re here they go to other stores go out to eat and get gas, so it’s good for all of Larned.”

Meanwhile, “we have a lot of local support and we really appreciate the people in Larned and Pawnee County, with the surrounding communities, Macksville, Lewis, Kinsley. Obviously we have people that have never been in here but I do encourage people to come in because we have prices that are very affordable for some very nice items.”

Shopping locally is important, not only to the downtown stores, but the community as a whole. 

“We see continuously on Facebook that Amazon is not the one who is supporting the Little League baseball teams, their signs are not up on the scoreboard at the football field or the water tower or at the fountain,” Suzan said. “It is very important to support local so that those businesses can give back to other areas in town.”

Business Insight is a regular feature of the Great Bend Tribune, showcasing locally owned businesses and encouraging folks to shop local as we near the Christmas holidays. Contact news@gbtribune.com for more information.