And because unassembled furniture took up so little space, the company didn''t need a lot of extra storage room. ''s ready-to-assemble furniture also provided immediate gratification: customers could walk out with what they wanted rather than wait weeks for delivery. In April 1980, he opened his first store with 35 styles of furniture. The pieces of the puzzle were all coming together. Sales in Canada were strong and soon needed more capital for inventory and expansion. At the same time, in the United States, Mr. Harper was negotiating and ultimately sold his mail-order business to Tandy Brands, Inc., a holding company in Fort Worth, Texas. Tandy Brands coincidentally also felt the ready-to-assemble furniture concept was a potential retail store homerun and opened its first two stores in 1980 followed by a handful of additional stores to test various markets. Realizing the huge potential of the concept, Tandy Brands wanted to own the concept for all of North America and, in 1981, bought the Canadian rights from with continuing to manage the Canadian operation.recipe for success was convenience, value and fashion.

quickly migrated away from merely reproducing antiques and began designing its own proprietary home furnishings while remaining true to the roots of its traditional style. The result was a unique, fashion focused and desirable product line. Responding to customers'' requests beginning in the early 90''s, expanded into larger pieces of furniture. Staying current with customers'' needs and everyday lifestyle changes, now offers complete collections focused on the rooms that are most relevant to the customer---the home office, bedroom, dining room and family rooms. In the Fall of 1997, took an innovative step across the country with the introduction of an updated palm tree logo and the opening of new and/or renovated stores, reminiscent of turn-of-the-century mercantile buildings. The new look is much more in keeping with today''s retail environment and results in a more pleasurable shopping experience for our customers. In February 1998,

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