Three generations of Lewises stood slumped in a circle, staring at the remains of their family business. Rain dripped around them as they wondered what the future held.
On June 3 a storm brought 37 mph winds to Lufkin. The Lewis Furniture Store in downtown Lufkin suffered an unexpected blow when the winds ripped the roof off the building, exposing the furniture within to the wind and rain.
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Lewis Furniture, which stayed in business for 63 years, closed its doors last week.
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Contributed photo |
Bill Lewis started his furniture store in 1946. He was forced to watch its closing last week after a storm last year blew the roof off and ruined much of the furniture.
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Friends rushed to help, covering furniture and moving it to a warehouse, but the storm had already destroyed much of the furniture.
"We had about $200,000 of merchandise before the storm hit," said Bill Lewis, who started the store in 1946. "After the storm we had a little over $100,000 left."
The Lewis family closed the doors to its business last week. The family has $6,000-$7,000 worth of merchandise left in a warehouse.
"That's all we have left of the furniture store," Lewis said.
In 1946, when Lewis opened the store, he worried he'd never fill the small amount of space it covered.
"Then they knocked out a wall and filled it out some more," said Linda Wright, Bill's daughter.
The elder Lewis shared his memories of a time when he was a young, handsome country boy riding out with the Sheriff's Posse, a cowboy hat on his head and badge pinned to his shirt. Not long after Lewis opened his store, the sheriff approached him for help finding men to assist in chasing down criminals and riding night patrol. Lewis and his group of friends would get the call for help from the sheriff, jump on their horses and race through wooded areas catching bad guys.
Linda Wright remembers how every morning men would stop by the store to drink coffee and visit with her father.
"When you've got an organization like the Sheriff's Posse, you've got lots of people stopping by to see you," Bill Lewis said.
Bill Lewis made it his mission to give the best customer service. During his company's 63 years of business, 38 furniture stores came and went, according to Bill's son, Roy Dale Lewis.
Linda Wright remembers that her dad would always send someone out to deliver air conditioners or refrigerators to customers who couldn't come to the store to pick them up.
"It's about being honest and treating people right," Bill Lewis said.
Deciding to close the store was a heartbreaking decision for the Lewis family, its members said.
"It was my livelihood for 43 years," said George Wright, co-owner and son-in-law of Bill Lewis.
"It was a sad situation," said Bill Lewis. "It happened and we couldn't help it."
Though Linda Wright described the process of closing down as a "nightmare at first," her husband, George Wright, said the family had no choice but to get through it.
"You've got to look to the future," he said. "You just can't look to the past. You've got to take it from there and go forward."
The 15,000-square-foot building in which the store was located, on Frank Avenue, will soon hold three new tenants: a party rental company, a home health care group and a national coffee retailer.
The Lewis family will move on and start over in other pursuits, but they'll never forget the store that meant everything to them.
"We've appreciated the customers and friends down through the years," Linda Wright said.
