In 1954, Ralph Marshall saw a classified ad for a furniture store in Washington, Iowa. This small ad and Ralph Marshall’s willingness to move his family to a new town with the opportunity of owning a small business, was the humble beginning of Marshall’s Furniture and Flooring.
Marshall’s Furniture took over Scott Furniture on the north side of Washington’s town square in 1954. After the construction of the new showroom was complete at 221 South Iowa Avenue, Marshall’s moved to its current location in 1958. Since 1954 Marshall’s has grown from a one room, 1,500 square foot showroom to a multi-building, 35,000 square foot complex.
Over the years, styles and designs have changed, but seeing a familiar face at Marshall’s Furniture has been something you can always count on. Skip Renoux was Ralph Marshall’s second employee hired in 1954, eventually becoming a partner in 1968. He retired in 1995 after working at Marshall’s for 41 years. Many of our loyal Marshall’s customers still remember sales staff Ray Carter, Gene Curtis and our long time flooring installer Dick Donaldson, who spent 42 years at Marshall’s Furniture. In 1979 Ralph’s daughter, Judy and husband Gene Driscoll also moved their family to Washington and Gene became a member of the partnership, eventually running the business for 12 years. Gene retired in 2006 after a 28-year career at Marshall’s, and turned the reins over to his son, Mike. Mike had joined the partnership in 1999, becoming the 3rd generation to own and operate Marshall’s Furniture.
Our current staff continues to create some history of our own. Matt Myers began in 1987 and became partner in 2000, Steve Liebe started in 1988, and Mike Driscoll joined the staff in 1993, followed by Brian Greiner one year later. Patty Stutzman came on staff in 2002 and Bernice Darby joined us in 2013 bringing 18 years of previous experience in the furniture industry. That is 139 years of combined experience ready to serve you.
2014 brought expansion by constructing a new 7,300 square foot warehouse and flooring showroom across the street to the south of our existing store. This allowed more space for our bedding and furniture showroom.
Marshall’s Furniture and Flooring looks forward to creating many more years of history serving Southeast Iowa’s furniture and flooring needs. “Thank you” to all of our loyal customers that continue to support Marshall’s Furniture. We will always continue to work hard for you.
