Tennessee retailer back in business after roof fire
Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, July 12, 2004
Dyersburg, Tenn. — General Appliance and Furniture here is cleaning up from water damage caused by a roof fire and is considering some expansion as well.
The promotional to midpriced retailer was putting a new roof on its main downtown showroom last month when Chairman Billy Yates got a telephone call saying the roof was on fire.
"It's really been a mess," he said. No one was hurt, but there was severe water damage through about a quarter of the 24,000-square-foot showroom, including the upper level dedicated to furniture. The worst damage was in the bedding department.
He declined to estimate the cost of the damage or repairs, which are ongoing.
Yates praised his son, General Appliance President Joe Yates, for coordinating the cleanup and restoration. "He's done a magnificent job.... We're back prettier than we've ever been in the bedding department." Billy Yates expects all work to be done soon.
In the meantime, the family-owned store has benefited from a successful water damage sale. Billy Yates took to the radio to thank consumers in northwest Tennessee for their support and noted that all the damaged furniture had been sold, given away or donated to the Dyersburg/Dyer County Union Mission. The store is back on a regular schedule.
Workers are still on the job "but they will move over for you," he said.
Yates also said he's now considering expansion, possibly putting a La-Z-Boy gallery in another building he owns that now serves as an extension to his main showroom.
