The
History of Weir's Furniture Village—A Village
of Little Shops!
The Weir name in furniture began
around 1920 at 2011 Elm Street in downtown Dallas. J. Ray
Weir’s father, A.E.
Weir, and J. Ray’s uncle, Fred, minded their store
well and established a good reputation…which helped
us in the beginning days to get a good start!
Weir’s began on March 19, 1948 as Weir’s Early
American Shop. J. Ray Weir could be found working from sun
up to sundown to run the 20’ by 70’ storefront
on Knox Street. The store was not air-conditioned and had
cement floors and tall tin ceilings. There was one adding
machine, a double pedestal desk with a cash drawer in the
center and only one other employee besides Ray and his wife,
Bea. Bea helped sell, opened the mail and answered the phone.
Ray and Bea were frugal, which helped the business to grow.
J. Ray did almost everything — he polished each piece
of furniture, “fitted” all drawers, made the
deliveries and kept the books!
Then in 1953, the U.S. Post Office
next door moved to a new location near S.M.U. So Weir’s had its first
expansion and began to grow over the years, taking in a
jewelry store, Edgar’s shoe shop and Sherwin Williams
paint store, etc., down to the Pharmacy. Our Furniture Village
of little shops on Knox Street currently has about 20,000
square feet of space.
On May 5, 1963, Weir’s on Knox Street opened an
old-fashioned Country Store in back of the Furniture Store,
which became another reason for people to come to Weir’s.
In 1965 the Country Store was moved behind our store across “Apple
Alley” (an alleyway running east and west separating
our Furniture Store from the warehouse and Country Store
building). In 1967 the Country Store was expanded again,
adding a post office like turn-of-the-century country stores
used to have.
In 1976 we grew into the upstairs
over Highland Park Pharmacy. In 1988, we put in a clearance
area in back (which is now the “Tower Room” with the Bell Clock Tower on
top). We also enclosed old “Apple Alley” with
an atrium (this is now our “Section 8” with
the Country Store on one end and “The Receiving Well” on
the other). We connected the rear buildings with two “arcades” to
the Furniture Village (the “arcade” from the
main store to our Gift Shop is now the home of our Christian
Book Nook). Our Buena Vista Warehouse and Service Center,
located a block away from our Knox store, was built in 1976
and expanded in 1979. It is still the residence for our
wonderful Accounting and B.V. “Take-With” folks
as well as our Clearance Center & More that opened in
1998. We are currently leasing over 110,000 square feet
of warehouse space (we call it the “D.C.” — Distribution
Center) on Pulaski Street, about six miles southwest of
our Knox Street store. At the “D.C.”, we have
a great group of hard-working folks receiving, warehousing,
making ready, repairing, delivering and handling our Customer
Service.
On October 25, 1999, Weir’s opened a second furniture
store (including a Country Store and Post Office) 17 miles
north (of the Knox Street store) in Plano, Texas in a brand
new shopping center called LakeSide Market. The Plano store
is located at 5801 Preston Road just south of the intersection
of Preston and Spring Creek Parkway. Our building is 800
feet off of Preston Road where the dirt was the cheapest…so
we could still offer quality home furnishings at under-the-market
prices out in that part of town. We chose Plano for our
second location because this area of the metroplex had the
largest number of Weir’s customers outside of Dallas.
In the fall of 2004, Weir’s purchased its retail space
in Plano from Turner Heritage Investments Ltd.
With the maturity of the Plano store
and a desire to expand, Weir’s recognized the growth
potential in the Southlake area and convenience it offered
to serve Tarrant and Denton Counties. In October 2006, Weir’s
broke ground on its new store location in Wyndham Plaza
on the northeast corner of Southlake Boulevard and North
Nolen Drive. With approximately 25,000 square feet of retail
shopping space, Weir’s Southlake opened its doors
on December 6, 2007. It offers the same warm and inviting
customer experience as the other two stores including daily
new arrivals and exceptional values on quality furniture.
The Southlake store also features the Country Store, U.S.
Post Office, the Christian Book Nook and the Clearance & More.
Weir’s was founded on the principle of working hard
to please and serve our customers. J. Ray Weir wanted to
establish a business that would allow people the opportunity
to work and be fulfilled in what they do…where integrity,
diligence, industriousness, etc., were commonplace. Looking
out for our customers’ best interests was and is held
in the highest regard.
Weir’s is dedicated to the Lord, and God has blessed
and sustained the business since its founding. When Dan
Weir (J. Ray’s son) began to oversee the business
of the company, he, too, wanted to serve others through
the business. Dan was always looking for quality, uniqueness
and value in furniture for our customers and creative ways
to let people know about our special “buys” through
advertising. Dan desired that all his actions be demonstrative
of the principles found in God’s Word. He served as
Weir’s leader for over 30 years before passing the
baton to the next generation.
Now this philosophy continues as
the third generation of the Weir family oversees the company.
On July 1, 2003 J. Mark Moore became the third president
in the history of the company, following his grandfather
and Weir’s
founder, J. Ray Weir and his uncle, Dan Weir. Mark, a graduate
of Baylor University, has served at Weir’s for over
20 years in the areas of sales, furniture store buying,
management of accounting systems and most recently as Executive
Vice President overseeing sales, accounting and data processing
divisions. As president, Moore chairs Weir’s Board
of Directors and supervises all company operations. Brooks
Weir, grandson of founder J. Ray Weir and son of retired
second president Dan Weir, recently returned to Weir’s
after pursuing entrepreneurial endeavors and working in
the wholesale furniture industry. Weir, a graduate of Southern
Methodist University, currently serves as Executive Vice
President of Merchandising and also is a member of the Weir’s
Board of Directors. Amy Fullerton, granddaughter of founder
J. Ray Weir and daughter of retired executive vice president
Patsy Weir Moore, assists with merchandising and manages
our Dallas Country Store. The remaining board members are
members of the Weir family: J. Ray Weir, Brad Weir and Bill
Fullerton.
It is still the company’s desire to conduct its
business affairs according to Biblical principles. Weir’s
continues to focus on service and ministry to people…customers,
associates, vendors and the community! Honoring the Lord
by following His ways and valuing people by showing love
and concern are two guiding principles the family wants
to model and pass on.
The generations of the Weir/Moore
family believe Weir’s
future is in God’s hands and that He undergirds our
business. It is our hope for Weir’s to continue to
grow and prosper while each one of us at Weir’s commits
himself/herself to grow in character and to be dedicated
to honestly and earnestly serving our customers and co-workers.
Finally, in a day with so much
emptiness, hopelessness and pain, our family would like
to emphasize to you that only in Jesus Christ our Lord
have we found peace and joy in our own hearts and lives,
in our families, in our business practices and in all other
interpersonal relationships. Only in Jesus have we found
forgiveness for our sins. He is the anchor and foundation
for our lives and all of our hopes and dreams. In Christ
are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians
3:23). We want to recommend to you, without reservation,
Jesus Christ, Who is the Savior and Lord of all creation,
and the only hope for this life and the next…a hope
we look forward to sharing!
We sincerely desire that your time
spent with Weir’s
whether in the store or through this website would be one
of joyfulness and blessing!
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