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The History of Smitty's Fine Furniture
Serving Ontario customers for 69 years |
Our founder,
Edward Schmidt, was the third of four sons born in 1899 to William and Wilhelmina Schmidt of Bentinck Township near Hanover, Ontario. William and Wilhelmina had recently emigrated from Germany being attracted to the Hanover area because of its wealth of farm land and hardwood bushes. Hanover was, by the 1920's, the “Capital” of the Canadian furniture industry.
During the 1920's,
Edward or “Smitty” as he was known was employed as the head finisher at Peppler Furniture Company. Music was Ed’s first love and he spent more than 25 years as choir director and organist at St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church in Hanover. In the mid 1930's, Ed grew tired of factory life and started his own business, Smitty’s Piano Sales. Eventually more than 3,500 pianos were sold by Ed and his three sons - Elmer, Gordon and Lloyd.
Elmer, returning from the war in 1945, gained experience in the hardware and appliance business working for Sarvis Hardware in Hanover. Lloyd had just finished high school in 1949 when he and Elmer joined their father to build a retail store in the north end of Hanover across from the CNR railway station.
Smitty's Shopping Centre was founded in 1949,
and began by selling groceries, meats, vegetables, hardware
and large appliances. In 1951, the first of numerous additions
was built for sales in home furnishings, pianos and organs.
The grocery andhardware business was phased out in 1955 to
make way for drapery, broadloom and televisions. By 1962
Smitty’s home furnishing started to attract thousands of
customers from much larger urban centres.
In 1963,
Ed’s other son Gordon joined Smitty’s with his sewing machine
business and eventually became a furniture buyer. Business
grew steadily necessitating numerous expansions.
In 1963 Smitty’s opened a modern 13,000 square foot home furnishings showroom and
a 12,000 square foot warehouse. The new plaza proved to be a revolutionary store
which displayed one hundred tastefully accessorized room settings and became one of
the first of its kind in the region.
In the 1970's...
a 25,000 square foot warehouse was built across the street from the showroom so that
the selling area could be expanded further.
Realizing the need to be closer...
to our customer base in the Golden Horseshoe area, Smitty’s
opened its second showroom in Cambridge
in 1985.
2004 Lloyd Schmidt, Elmer Schmidt, Bob Gray
1999 - Smitty's Fine Furniture Celebrates 50 Years
The Schmidt family celebrates Christina Schmidt's 100th Birthday
Today, we have returned to the type of merchandising that
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Hanover Showroom - 170 3rd Street
Kitchener Showroom
Grand Opening Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
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Thank you for being part of our history.Bob Gray- President, Smitty's Fine Furniture Smitty's Fine Furniture - proud supporter of Canadian craftsmanship |
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