Southtown Furniture locked its doors for the last time in July, after over 100 years in business. The following is taken from excerpts of The Salem News article in 2023 as Southtown celebrated 100 years.
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Southtown’s story began over a century ago with the businesses’ first location.
“It started with my grandpa, his sister, and his brother-in-law. I think their first location was down where the Main Street Café is now,” said Bottorff. “I don’t know how long the business was together, but apparently there came a time when the other party wanted to do hardware, maybe some clothing, and stuff like that. My grandpa wasn’t interested in that. Grandpa liked furniture. He moved from that location. At some point in time, he went over to where the dry cleaner is.”
At the new location, Bottorff’s grandfather specialized in furniture.
“He didn’t have carpets, he didn’t have appliances, but strictly furniture. We used to have a competitor called Schafer Furniture. He and Bob and I were good close friends. We served on a few boards together. Bob’s dad and my grandpa went into business together. That lasted for a period of time, and I guess Grandpa had an opportunity to buy a location on Fourth street, and that’s where he moved, probably around 1921 or 1922. I think that’s when we kind of started counting our 100 years in business.”
Bottorff says that in March of 1925, the business was destroyed by fire. However, he says it was surprising how quickly things were up and running again.
“Grandpa was back in business. Probably had four or five employees. So that’s where it all started,” said Bottorff.
Owner Curtis Bottorff says Southtown Furniture is in the business of building relationships.
“I don’t care what business you’re in, if you don’t offer dependable customer service, it’s going to catch up with you. Small town like this, it could be the demise of your business if you don’t take care of your customers,” said Bottorff.
“We’re lucky. We have three or four third-generation families shopping with us. I have young kids come in here, and they start looking around. ‘Oh, my grandma and grandpa, or my parents sent us here because they said this is a good place to shop for furniture.’ That makes us feel good. That makes us think we’ve accomplished what we set out to do, which is to make your first-time customer a lifetime customer,” said Bottorff. “You’ve got to develop a relationship with the customer, so they want to come back and shop with you.”
“My dad was in the military. It’s hard to remember when he joined my grandpa in business. At that time, they were still downtown. Grandpa kind of semi-retired at that point and did a lot of fishing and hunting while dad ran the business. I came back in ’71 after my schooling days and military. I joined both my grandpa and my dad in business downtown. So, there was a time we actually had three generations active in the business.”
Bottorff says this wasn’t the only time that three generations of family were involved with the business.
“Then in the 80s, my son joined me. So, at that time again, we had three generations, my dad, me, and my son. But my son got a fabulous business opportunity in Florida, so he took advantage of that.”
The current location on Hwy. 19 housed Southtown for close to 30 years before its last days.
Bottorff says having the right product is one of the keys to success that has allowed Southtown to stay competitive for over a century.
Bottorff says that good help is another key to the success of the business.
“You have to surround yourself with good help. You can’t do it all by yourself, no way. Honestly, I’ve got probably the best help today that I’ve had since I’ve been here. They’re loyal, dependable. They have as much interest as I have in seeing that this business flourishes. That’s hard to find today.”
To Bottorff, customers are more than mere business necessities. He says he counts Southtown’s customers over the years as his friends.
“We’re really grateful for the opportunity to serve the number of people we’ve managed to. They’re friends to us, they’re not just a client, they’re not just a number on our bookkeeping system. They’re truly friends to us. I hope that when my time is over here, I can walk out of here and count amongst my friends many of the customers that have been here with us.”
Editor’s Note:
Friday, July 18 Curtis and his wife, Judy, and several employees and family members gathered in the showroom, amidst the final pieces of furniture that were left to be picked up by customers. They shared laughs, a bit of breakfast, and talked about their futures.