Breuners Home Furnishings facts for kids
Sacramento, 1858
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| American private company | |
| Industry | Retail (Specialty) |
| Founded | 1856 in Sacramento, California, United States of America |
| Founder | John Breuner |
| Defunct | 2004 (retailer, internet outlet closed soon after) |
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Area served
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Internet |
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Key people
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Bill Breuner, Beth Breuner Grebitus |
| Products | furniture |
Breuners Home Furnishings was a famous chain of furniture stores. It operated for 148 years, mostly in the Southwestern United States. The company started in 1856 and sold furniture for homes.
Breuners began in California during the exciting time of the California Gold Rush. Its stores first served California and Nevada. Later, it even expanded to the East Coast. Sadly, in 2004, the company faced financial trouble and closed all its physical stores. For a short time, it continued as an online store, but eventually, it closed completely.
Contents
The Story of Breuners
How It All Started
The first Breuners store opened in 1856. It was founded by John Breuner (1828–1890). He was the great-grandfather of William Robert “Bill” Breuner. John started the store to sell furniture to the many people who came to California during the California Gold Rush. These people were looking for gold and needed furniture for their new homes.
The very first store was in Sacramento, California. Soon, more stores opened in other big cities. These included Oakland and San Francisco. Over time, Breuners stores spread across all of California and Nevada.
Growing Bigger
In 1968, under Bill Breuner, the company became public. This meant people could buy shares of the company. Bill Breuner later sold the company in the 1970s. In 1983, a company called Marshall Fields bought Breuners.
At its most successful, Breuners had 40 stores. These stores were very large, like big warehouses. Each store was about 140,000 square feet (about 13,000 square meters).
New Markets and Closure
By the 1990s, the company's main office was in San Diego. In 1995, Breuners expanded to the East Coast. They bought 13 stores from another company called Huffman Koos. These new stores were in New York and New Jersey. Breuners also owned other furniture stores, like Good’s Furniture.
However, the company eventually faced difficulties. In 2004, after many years, Breuners Home Furnishings had to close its doors for good.
Breuners' Lasting Mark
Even though the stores are gone, the Breuner family name lives on in some places. For example, there's a wetlands area called Breuner Marsh. Inside this marsh, there's also a place called Breuner Field, which is used for flying model airplanes. The Breuner Building in downtown Oakland is also named after the family.
Catchy Slogans
Breuners had some memorable slogans over the years:
- That's the beauty of Breuners!
- I've been to Breuners, and now I've seen everything!
- You Breuners it, you bought it!
