Town & Country Furniture, located at 125 W. Water St. in Piqua, is closing its doors after 53 years.
Eamon Baird | Miami Valley Today
By Eamon Baird
PIQUA — After 53 years in downtown Piqua, Town & Country Furniture is closing its doors.
Bob Soifer and his brother Bruce Soifer have been involved in the business for nearly 50 years. Their father, Oscar, purchased the 125 W. Water St. building in 1971.
It is a bittersweet occasion for Bob Soifer, who said the business experienced steady growth over the last year.
“I think a lot of people feel it’s because of the competition of big box stores, but it’s not that; we filled a great niche of offering value on price points that people could afford. And it wasn’t a big box store; it was just age,” he said. “Bruce is 72, and I’ll be 70 in a little over a month. He recently had back surgery. And for me, after working here four weeks straight, I realized I can’t do it anymore.”
The four-story building dates back to the Civil War. It initially served the community as a carriage factory, an underwear manufacturer and a Montgomery Ward.
“They made horse and buggy carriages on the first and second floors. Then, on the top two floors they made underwear. We have even seen sewing needles down and deep in the cracks of the floor,” Bob Soifer said.
He said they are looking for a new buyer for the building and that it’s in good shape despite its age.
“We just put a new roof on in September. We tried to take care of the building for the next owner. So, we were going to wind up just being another layer of history in this building … if these walls could talk,” he said.
With the store’s closing approaching, Soifer looks back fondly on the people the furniture store has served Piqua over the last 53 years.
“We drew people from a wide radius around from south of Dayton to north of Lima, to west of Greenville, and even in Indiana and east of Springfield,” he said.
Soifer wants to extend a thank you to the employees and customers who have been a part of the furniture over the years.
“We took pride in that giving, whether it was mattresses or sofas, or hard goods for the dining room or bedroom,” Soifer said. “It was more than just making a sale, or it was more than just, you know, dollars and cents. It was trying to do something you feel good about and offer value while you’re doing it.”
