Vancouver retailer touts built-to-last products in a "disposable" furniture market
In 1882, the same year President Franklin D. Roosevelt was born, a hardware store opened in Vancouver on lower Main Street.
Sparks Home Furnishings has gone through a number of changes in the intervening 128 years, but fourth generation owner Tom Craig says a focus on quality products and reputation has not waned.
"Even now, we are improving through this long, slow recession because people know us," Craig said.
Sparks today sits on a 40,000-square-foot showroom at 1001 Broadway, a few blocks from its original location. The move was made in the 1950s, when Craig's father, Jim, took over and began to broaden the scope of the business.
An ad from 1951 is displayed inside Sparks and features a $4 croquet set, an 89-cent rotary press and a newly-invented magnetic knife holder, billed to potential customers as a gadget to keep their knifes in place, "even upside-down."
Craig's path originally had him pursuing interests outside the family business, graduating from UCLA and working in the Portland Budget Office. However, it was business that brought Craig back to Clark County in 1978.
"When I came back, dad and I began to focus on furniture," he said.
Craig, now the president and owner of Sparks, says he has begun to add more emphasis on patio furniture in the last five years. According to Craig, the business has evolved according to the needs of Clark County residents, and prices reflect that.
"Some people ask why we have such high-end merchandise," he said. "I tell them that a millionaire probably doesn't want a $199 patio set in his mansion."
However, Craig is quick to point out the store also caters to customers of more modest means. Sofas, for instance, run $499 to $899 and are put through a rigorous vetting process before being sold, according to Craig.
"My name is in the phone book, so I make sure to take care of my customers," he said.
Also, to compete with businesses across the Columbia River, Sparks doesn't charge sales tax to its customers – opting instead to absorb the cost, Craig said.
Sparks' inventory runs the gamut of home furnishings, selling end tables, couches, recliners, dining room sets and beds. And although this isn't a unique set of products, Craig says his business continues to exist by appealing to a different market than big-box retailers like IKEA, Fred Meyer or other what he called "assembly-required" furniture stores.
"Nordstrom doesn't compete with Wal-Mart, even though they sell the same kinds of products," he said. "If someone wants high quality furniture which will last, they come to us."
