by Leisa Strabel
John Dunn in front of Dunn’s Home Furnishing, February 2012. John says, “Being a part of the community is a highlight of our business, giving the customers an option from the big box store.” His response when asked to note a memorable moment: “Making a delivery to a cottage on an island in the St. Lawrence River.” Photograph by Walter Horylev.If there is one thing that the Dunn family men have in common, it’s that they tend to go away to school or training, but they always come back to Brockport. Actually, three generations of Dunn men – George Sr., George Jr. and John have much more in common than that – they’ve shared a business and commitment to customer service that spans 100 years.
Dunn’s Home Furnishings is celebrating its 100th anniversary as a Main Street, Brockport business – the only retail business in continuous operation during that period. While most residents and visitors probably picture Dunn’s where it has been located since 1956 – the home furnishings store actually had three other Main Street locations before George Sr. and Jr. constructed the showroom in its present location.
George Dunn, Sr., was born in Brockport in 1890. After high school graduation, George could have attended the University of Rochester on scholarship, but his father, James, was a harness maker who didn’t believe that the college degree was the best pursuit for his son. Instead, George, Sr. spent a year learning about the business world in the offices of Armour and Company in Chicago. Dunn soon decided there would be more opportunities working for himself, so in 1912 he came back to Brockport and opened a home furnishings and mortuary business with partner E.W. Allanson.
John’s father, George, joins his son at the store for a photo. After being involved for 50 years in the family business, George, now 86, retired in 2000. “I think too much of my son to come down to the store to help him,” George said when asked if still involved in the Main Street business. Home furnishings and mortuary business? According to George Jr., it wasn’t an unusual combination. He mentions that the Fowler family also ran a home furnishings store and funeral home in Brockport; as did the McNalls’ in Albion. George said he’s heard a couple of theories about why the seemingly dichotomous businesses would go hand-in-hand. The theory he believes is most creditable is that home furnishing stores were an outgrowth of cabinet making which would have included caskets.
In any case, George Sr.’s partner soon left to open another business and Dunn was on his own. The partners had opened their store in the Main Street building now known as Seawards Candies. In 1914, Dunn moved to 1 Main Street, currently home to the Stoneyard restaurant, and stayed there until 1943. At that time, George Sr. purchased 15 Main Street and kept his business there for 13 years.
George Jr. (older brother James was killed in World War II) headed off to the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor to study engineering. He switched his major to business and after graduating went to work for Sears Roebuck, the largest retailer in the world at the time. After marrying and starting a family, George Jr. decided that Brockport was a much better place to raise a family than Detroit and he came home to join his father in the business.
George Jr. knew at least a bit about his father’s business. As a youth and a teenager, his parents encouraged his attention to his studies and his participation in school sports, but if there was any free time, it was to be spent working at the store – not hanging out getting into trouble. “There was always something to be done,” George Jr. says, “helping on the truck, unpacking, keeping cleaned up.”
When he returned to the business as a partner, George Jr. studied for his mortuary license also. The Dunn’s continued to be in the funeral business until constructing their new building in 1956.
“We were Catholic,” George Jr. explains, “so we did all the Catholic funerals. The Fowlers were Presbyterians, they did all the Protestant funerals. It became apparent over time that Brockport’s population was going to be more Protestant. It wouldn’t matter if I had the nicest funeral home in New York State, I was only going to have a small share of the business.”
Dunn’s on Main Street, Brockport, circa 1957For those who think of Dunn’s as a furniture store – for a very long time it was actually a home furnishings store. The Dunns sold paint, draperies, domestics like linens and towels, house wares and gifts. “When we built this building in 1956, less than 20 percent of our business was furniture,” George Jr. says.
But changing with the times has been what has kept Dunn’s Home Furnishings in business for a century. As the dynamics of the home furnishings business changed, so did Dunn’s. If the chain department stores could offer linens and draperies in a more convenient and cost-effective way, then Dunn’s could do something big box stores can’t do well – display and sell furniture.
Unlike some other types of retail businesses, there are still a good number of independent furniture stores, George says. Part of it is the personal touch – many people don’t want to buy furniture from a stranger; many people also don’t like the high-pressure sales tactics of the chain furniture stores.
The store George Sr. and Jr. built in 1956 was designed to attract foot traffic, with the gift merchandise right up front on Main Street. George Sr. was quite talented at draperies and that was an important part of the business. George Sr. stayed active at the store until his death in 1970.
Dunn’s, Brockport, 1994. Sketch by Donna KelseyAs the business changed to more furniture and less furnishings, the third generation of Dunns was growing up. John remembers well working in the store as a youth – “it was an opportunity I didn’t appreciate at the time,” he says.
John followed in his father’s footsteps to the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. But like his father and grandfather before him, he eventually returned to Brockport, joining his father in the business in 1985. “He was a real mentor,” John says of his father, “I learned the ropes from him.”
Most Brockporters probably consider Dunn’s the anchor of the downtown shopping district. It is not only the oldest retail business, but the largest in terms of square footage. The Dunns hope that their relationship with the other Main Street businesses is symbiotic – they all benefit from each other’s presence. “Any amount of traffic downtown is a benefit to all the stores,” John says.
from the Brockport Republic-Democrat newspaper May 1929George Jr. stopped playing an active role in the store in 2000, but he’s still interested in the dynamics of the business – he recently read about how other industries have tried to consolidate furniture making and selling into just a few powerhouses, but the effort has failed.
For John, steering the business into its second century of operation, it’s all about the customer. He keeps a copy of a quote, which he has adopted as his own personal mantra on his desk – “we must always be responsible to the people who allow us to exist.”
He is grateful to all the customers who have remained loyal to Dunn’s over many years, through recessions and Main Street construction projects. He is also grateful to long-time employees like Sue Arican (33 years) and David Reed (23 years).
John and his wife, Wendy, have 12 year-old twins. Will one of them be the fourth generation of Dunn’s Home Furnishings? It’s impossible to tell at this point. But based on the store’s enduring success, it’s a possibility the community would love to embrace.
