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Familiar faces open Perryville Furniture Outlet

December 06, 2006|LIZ MAPLES

PERRYVILLE - Barbara Brummett is restoring a piece of one of Perryville's former businesses, Perryville Furniture Mart.

Brummett's scaled-down Perryville Furniture Outlet is on South Bragg Street, right around the corner from the original store.

Perryville Furniture Mart had been on the corner of Second and Bragg Streets since 1947. Brummett and her sister, Mary Morgan, closed the store in 2005, and Brummett has been on sabbatical.

"I can't walk out on the street and somebody says, 'When are you going to open again?'" Brummett said.

She and her husband, Lloyd, decided to reopen on a smaller scale. They will concentrate on leather and bedroom and dining room sets, and Brummett is excited about a line of painted items that will be coming in soon.

"I love people and I love sales. ... That is what I miss the most. I love making a lady smile when she's bought a great piece of furniture."

Selling furniture must be a genetic passion. Brummett's husband and sons also work in furniture sales.

Her father, E.M. Worley, started the discount furniture store with the help of Punch Harmon in 1947. He bought the Ford Motor Garage, Old Bank building and the Allie Vanderipe house to expand the showroom floor.

The business survived two floods, one in 1961 and another in 1990. After a year of rest, Brummett said she is ready and regrouped.

"I'm excited. ... I loved what I did," she said.

Perryville's newly-elected mayor Anne Sleet is happy to see the store open, too.

"I was really sad when they closed the store because we need businesses in Perryville," she said. "Perryville is small. We're not going to get factories, so we need the furniture store."

One of Perryville's other long-standing businesses, Elmwood Inn, is still for sale. It was put on the market in 2005. Sleet said she would like to see the inn restored, perhaps as a tea shop or bed and breakfast.

"We need to keep our town blooming," she said.

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