Tennessee retailer Billy Yates dies at 83

Started General Appliance and Furniture in 1947

Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, March 13, 2009

Billy Yates

DYERSBURG, Tenn. — Industry veteran Billy Yates, owner and co-founder of General Appliance and Furniture here, died Wednesday. He was 83.

Yates, who started the business in 1947, was well known and respected in the community for both his personal outreach and business practices. He retired as president and CEO of General Appliance and Furniture in 2007 but remained chairman.

Two sons of Billy Yates are top executives at the retailer.  Joe Yates is president and CEO and Mark Yates is vice president.

The Yates family's downtown business - first opened as General Appliance and Television - was named Small Business of the Year in January by the Dyersburg-Dyer Country Chamber of Commerce for businesses with 16 to 50 employees.

The two-level, 24,000-square-foot store has been a La-Z-Boy, Broyhill and Sealy dealer since 1960, the year it changed its name to General Appliance & Furniture.

In a 1996 story by the Dyersburg State Gazette, Yates said the retailer's "business philosophy is honesty and doing what you say you'll do - delivering on your promises."

Yates is survived by his wife, four children, seven grandchildren and a great-grandchild. Services are scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday at First United Methodist Church in Dyersburg and burial will be in Fairview Cemetery.

Click here to read the Dyersburg State Gazette story on Yates and his accomplishments.