Don’s Home Furniture has been a long time in the making. For over 30 years we have continued to grow into a very sizable independent furniture store. When it all began back in 1986, the little 1,800 square foot store on Madison’s southeast side was called Don’s Collection of Reproductions. We carried mostly oak furniture that was new but made to look like the antiques of the early 1900s. We were so small back then that when a customer came into the store, we actually had to walk away from them just so we could stay out of their way while they looked around.

In the late 1980s the store name was changed to Don’s Oak Furniture. We quickly gained a reputation in southern Wisconsin as one of the only places to find quality oak furniture at reasonable prices. Throughout these early years, the company was owned and operated by Don and his wife, Pat. With Don’s background in antiques, he knew what to look for in new furniture. Quality was something that was built into most antique furniture. This was the kind of furniture that he wanted to sell in his store, so the search for quality vendors began.

As things progressed and the store grew, it had to move into a larger space. Slowly but surely, it grew even larger. Eventually Don decided that this little business was getting too big. That was when he decided to sell the business to his son-in-law, Blaine Neupert. Blaine and his wife, Tina, took over general operation of the business in 1993. Blaine’s background in sales and marketing would prove to be useful. Both Blaine and Tina had worked in the business from the beginning, and with the guidance of Don and Pat, started down the road to self employment.

The first several years saw the continued expansion of business. The goal was always the same: offer the public a quality product at a reasonable price. By the mid-1990s, we decided that the quality product would come in the form of Amish handcrafted furniture. For decades the Amish have been synonymous with quality-crafted furniture. Blaine and his wife, Tina, began making several trips to the Amish communities to search for the best pieces and craftsmanship. As the sales grew, so did the need for more space. Oak was not the only species of lumber that found its way onto the showroom floor. Cherry, maple, and hickory soon became a part of the growing store. With all of the new product, a larger warehouse was added in 1996. In 2001 it was decided that more showroom space was needed, so an addition to the east side showroom was started. Completed in early 2002, the newly expanded space was almost a full 20,000 square feet. This made Don’s Oak Furniture one of the largest all-wood furniture stores in the Midwest.

In 2003 Don’s doubled its size and added a west side location for a total of 40,000 square feet of showroom space. We began adding several new categories of furniture, and in 2005 changed the name to Don’s Home Furniture to reflect the fact that we truly were more than just an oak store. Sofas, area rugs, accessories and wall art were now a part of the landscape in both showrooms. In late 2006 the decision was made to open one large location on the beltline and close the two other locations. This move would put the location in what many people in Dane county perceive as “Furniture Row”, a location where people can shop several furniture stores within a stone’s throw of one another. In early 2007 the move was complete.

Since the 2007 opening of the single location on the beltline, Don’s Home Furniture has continued to grow by leaps and bounds. With record sales in 2007 and amazing sales through the first nine months of 2008, it was a confirmation that the move was one of the best things we could have done as a company. When things started to go south for the economy in October of 2008, the entire staff wondered if the customers that had followed Don’s through the years would continue to invest in the quality that we are known for. For almost every furniture store in the country, the years following the crash of 2008 have been very tough. Amazingly, Don’s sales have remained very steady and in 2010 even began to grow again.

The decision to sell nothing but American-made furniture has been one of the best decisions that our company could have made. We believe that if you are an American company, you should sell American products whenever possible. We hope you will agree and that any purchase you make from us will be around for generations to come!

Today, with annual sales in the area of 6 million dollars, and over 140 different Amish vendors, Don’s Home furniture continues to impress those that make their way to the store. First-time shoppers are stunned to find that, for close to what you would pay at a big-box store on furniture that is mass-produced, you can invest in a handcrafted heirloom that will last generations. While not all of the furniture that we sell is Amish-made, the vast majority(about 95 percent) is. So, the goal remains the same as when Don first began -offer quality products at reasonable prices- with just a lot more to choose from.

Thanks again,
Blaine, Tina, Amanda and Brandon Neupert