My name is Larry Pierce and the following is a brief history of how our family came to be in the furniture business and now is in its fourth generation

1920

My great grandfather Chester Pierce and a partner, Bert Kenniston, started a company called C.A.Pierce Company, which repaired, refinished, and upholstered furniture. As time passed they gradually added employees and comfortably grew the business.

1945

My grandfather, Donald Pierce, joined the company as an upholsterer. Eventually, as a boy growing up around the business my father, Bob Pierce, showed an interest in furniture and began to do odd jobs around the shop. As any apprentice does he started at the bottom rung removing the old finish, upholstery, and of course the inevitable and monotonous process of hand sanding every single piece.

By the time he graduated from high school, he had worked almost every aspect of the furniture renovation business. He had learned the business from the inside out and had nurtured a young man’s dream of owning it someday.

1957

Upon completing high school my dad joined the air force, as many of the young men of his era did. During his four years of service, he spoke frequently with his father about buying the business upon his discharge.

1958

Bert Kenniston retired and my great grandfather bought out his half of the business.

1961

My grandfather, Donald, had a brain hemorrhage. This untimely circumstance led to the sale of the business to an outside party and coincidentally on the exact day of my dad’s discharge from military service. To his surprise, the new owners asked him to work for them, which he promptly did. And, within three weeks they asked him to manage the business. Again, he eagerly accepted.

Shortly after completing his first year of employment, and while happily following his father’s road to recovery, together they proposed buying back the company. The new owners agreed to the sale and during the next three years, Donald and Bob successfully grew the refurbishing business by 100% even allowing them to buy the real estate our shop was then located on.

1973

My dad bought my grandfather out, while happily continuing to work until his retirement years later. Bob ran C.A. Pierce for a total of 27 years.

1974

• In addition to running the refinishing business, he started Pierce Furniture. The goal was to start small while slowly building inventory and gradually swapping out shop space for showroom space. My mother Joan played a major role in the growth and expansion of Pierce Furniture. Soon they bought land and built a large new showroom at the current location at 600 Roundwood Drive in Scarborough.
• Business was good and within a few years, they opened another store in Roundwood and called it Home & Cottage. This was also a great success and in 1994 they opened a third store in Roundwood, which exclusively sold the nationally-known line of Stickley Furniture.

2004

Bob & Joan retired and I bought the company and am proudly carrying on the Pierce reputation for offering superior quality furniture and excellent customer service.