McKinstry's celebrates 150th anniversary
By Angela Heck -- Furniture Today, July 14, 2008
BEAVER DAM, Wis. — Retailer McKinstry's is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year with special sales and celebrations.
According to the company, it's the oldest family-run business in Wisconsin.
John McKinstry emigrated in 1855 from Quebec, Canada, to this small Wisconsin town, just 20 miles northeast of the state capital. He soon began hand-crafting furniture for local residents.
J. McKinstry Co. was founded in 1858 and diversified into several wood-related side businesses — including casket making, furniture repair and custom framing. The company even had a funeral parlor, complete with portable foot organ. An 1867 ad in the Beaver Dam Daily Citizen proudly declared that J. McKinstry & Co. had the finest hearse in Dodge County. The company also offered free same-day furniture delivery by horse and cart.
One of the legends passed down through the generations says that McKinstry used to trade with the local Native American tribe for marsh reeds. The reeds were then used for furniture production.
The company has occupied its current location at 131 Front St. for 142 years. The 20,000-square-foot building has been carefully renovated to preserve its historical significance and vintage flavor.
Many of the original McKinstry furniture pieces, antique furniture-making tools and family photographs are now on display in the showroom as the retailer begins its year-long celebration.
John B. McKinstry, the fourth-generation family member who currently serves as CEO, carries on many of the company's long-standing traditions. Although Mckinstry's no longer makes furniture or caskets, it continues to provide quality furniture, free delivery, furniture repair and custom framing.
The store carries La-Z-Boy, Howard Miller clocks, Capel rugs and Westwood lamps, as well as Simmons and Tempur-Pedic mattresses. It also offers furniture from Wisconsin-based Best Craft and Marshfield Furniture.
Ric Fiegel, McKinstry's store manager, said the local upholstery vendors sell very well. “The fact that they are made in the U.S. and that they sit firmer and are built very solid are the main attractions,” he said.
April is the month when McKinstry's traditionally celebrates its anniversary. This year's event featured a party, a sale with special promotions, and a drawing for products including a Simmons mattress set, a La-Z-Boy recliner, a Broyhill Attic Heirlooms sofa table and a Westwood table lamp.
McKinstry's says it is not celebrating the past at the expense of the future. Fiegel said that the retailer has recently taken several steps as a springboard into the next phase of its history. In March, it opened a La-Z-Boy Comfort Studio gallery, and in May it installed a Broyhill gallery.
