Edelstein's celebrates centennial with furnished home giveaway
By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, March 11, 2007
McAllen, Texas — Edelstein's Better Furniture here celebrated its centennial in a big way, meaning a local family got to celebrate a new house and furnishings.
For 18 months leading up to the big day, the retailer gave away prizes and encouraged tens of thousands of its customers to enter to win the grand prize.
In a joint promotion with Casa Linda Homes, Edelstein's invited 25 finalists to show up at a house. Each of them had a key, and they took turns seeing if theirs was the one that fit the front door. The fourth person in line, longtime Edelstein's customer Maria Huerta, 44, had the key that fit, entitling her to the grand prize of $100,000 toward a home plus $13,000 worth of furnishings.
Huerta is a cook at a Chinese restaurant and her husband is a construction worker. They had been living in a small one-bedroom home and saving money for an addition to better accommodate them and their two children.
Edelstein's Better Furniture's history is one of modest beginnings as well.
In 1906, Morris Edelstein fled Lithuania and headed to Ellis Island. Learning about a railway that would soon connect little-known Brownsville, Texas, to the rest of the nation, he saw an opportunity.
Edelstein headed south, peddling wares such as salt shakers, pots and small furniture items.
He offered his customers payment options and opened his first store here.
The retailer survived devastating hurricanes, the Great Depression, two World Wars and retail competition. Edelstein's, which now has 12 stores in the Rio Grande Valley, is still run by the family.
Morris Edelstein, vice president of finance, and Julie Edelstein-Best, vice president of sales and marketing, are grandchildren of the founder.
Their fathers, Ben Edelstein and Ruben Edelstein, are still active in the business, now a multi-million dollar company.
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