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Final rearrangement for a furniture store

Kiefer's in downtown Dade City is winding down before the woman who started it retires.

By MOLLY MOORHEAD
Published August 8, 2005

DADE CITY - Before northeast Pasco became a Tampa suburb, there was a way to sell high-end furniture to people strolling through downtown.

Charlotte Kiefer sold that way for years, first as a Badcock furniture dealer, then under her own name.

When shoppers came to town hunting for antiques, Kiefer had new merchandise to offer. For a while, she could set them up with appliances, too.

But the era of mall shopping arrived, followed by big-box stores, and Kiefer is getting out.

Not because she has to. It's just after 40 years in the business, she's done.

The building housing Kiefer's Home Furnishings, on U.S. 301 downtown, is for sale, and the bedroom sets, brass lamps and rocking chairs are all marked down.

"It's really hard to let go," Kiefer, 59, said last week.

She ambled into the furniture business in 1965. Her aunt was visiting her in Brooksville and mentioned that a Badcock dealer she had met needed some help in his store.

"I ran home and washed my hair, and he had already hired a girl. But guess what: His wife liked me," she said.

She learned all sides of the business: sales, customer service, credit management, even bill collecting.

"I had to go out and knock on doors to collect payments," she said. "I did it. I had to."

Ultimately, Kiefer found herself at the helm of three Badcock stores, in Bushnell, Belleview and Dade City. Most women who ran their own stores had inherited them when their husbands died. Kiefer did it the hard way.

"For me to have three stores and be a girl, I was the only one that ever did that," she said. "It was like a challenge: I can do this."

Six, sometimes seven days a week, Kiefer visited each of her stores, driving from her home in San Antonio. All four of her sons worked for her.

But after 34 years with the company, Kiefer stepped out of line in 1999 and led a lawsuit against Badcock, alleging unfair business practices. She and 18 other dealers said they were overcharged for advertising, insurance and computers, and the company improperly siphoned their commissions for years.

Kiefer ultimately won a settlement, but she lost her three stores. Badcock cleared her out.

"What we did was right," she said. "And what they were doing then, they had to quit doing."

To bounce back, Kiefer and her family reopened that year as Kiefer's Home Furnishings in the same location. Everything was in the name of her husband, Ted, to steer around the noncompete clause in her Badcock contract.

In addition to finally being her own boss, Kiefer found she was serving a different clientele. The family store, which didn't offer in-house financing, attracted more customers from upscale communities.

"They want a good product, so that's what I've tried to do is have something better," she said.

Kiefer's involvement in the city has been visible too. She tried her hand at politics, running for the County Commission in 2000 to replace Sylvia Young. She ran as a Democrat and lost to Republican Ted Schrader, who is now in his second term.

"Everybody should try it once, if they really want to find what they're made of," she said of the experience.

She's a member of the Main Street organization, served as president of the Chamber of Commerce and was honored as its citizen of the year. In 2003, the City Commission recognized her contributions to the community with an official proclamation.

"I really wanted to see the city be what I knew it could be. And it can," she said.

With her business winding to a close, Kiefer plans to build a home and travel with her husband. She has eight grandchildren and one more on the way. She said there has been interest in her building but no formal offers yet.

She thinks a new restaurant might be nice.

"I'd like to see something come in here that would benefit Dade City downtown," she said. "And I want them to work as hard as I did."

--Molly Moorhead covers news Dade City. She can be reached at 352 521-6521 or toll-free 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6521. Her e-mail address is moorhead@sptimes.com

[Last modified August 8, 2005, 02:45:22]