SOUTH EAST FURNITURE COMPANY

By S. Calvin Sorensen

The events that led to the beginning of South East Furniture really began when

my paternal Grandfather, Peter Christian Sorensen, arrived in Utah in 1883. He acquired

a team of horses named Dan and Duke, and a two-seated buggy that was real deluxe,

which was kept so clean it fairly glistened in the sun. His best customers were the

traveling salesmen, or so-called "drummers," whom he picked up with the mail at the

railroad station. It was those drummers who helped my father, Soren C. Sorensen, get

into a business for himself.

After Soren and my mother, Lillie Matilda Anderson, were married, he worked at

H.P. Larsen’s Drug Store in Ephraim, and was on call eighteen hours a day. Mother and

Father lived in the two rooms above the drugstore. His employer raised his salary from

$30 a month to $35 and then let them have the two rooms for the extra $5 per month.

There was no water in the apartment and all water had to be carried upstairs and then

back down again. While they were living in the apartment my oldest brother Horace was

born.

Mother tells of their saving $200 and it was decided that Soren should open a

store to sell groceries, and he ultimately opened a furniture and hardware store.

Throughout the years in Ephraim, they bought furniture through Dinwoodey's, which was

nearly the only source of supply in the area. Horace went

to the owner, H.N. Dinwoodey, who was glad to give

him a job that paid $40 per month. As a student, he may

have been working part-time and probably spent long

hours.

Soren later also worked for Dinwoodey’s,

traveling to sell in both Utah and Idaho. By this time

Soren and Lillie had increased their family to seven

children. Soren’s traveling for Dinwoodey’s left Lillie

with the younger children in Ephraim. In time Horace

moved to Salt Lake City to attend the University of

Utah, and Lillie wanted to move to Salt Lake City where

she could at least have her family together. With the help

of Fred Morse, a life-long friend and then manager of

Scott Hardware in Salt Lake, they encouraged Soren to

make the decision to leave his good friends and make the

move.

In 1922, just a year before I was born, the move to Salt Lake proved to be a great

transition in the life of Lillie. They moved to 139 South 12th East just a few blocks west

of the University of Utah where her family could have a good education, yet have a close

family relationship.

The move also gave Soren the opportunity to work for Malleable Iron Range

Company selling Monarch Ranges in both Utah and Idaho. Monarch Ranges were wood-

burning stoves that would give off heat to make at least the kitchen warm, had the ability

to cook food on the surface, and had an oven for baking . . . then a cast iron “water

jacket” that could be hooked up to the plumbing to heat water. What a great product and

all that needed to be done was to keep the fire burning to get all three services in one.

In Ephraim, before moving to Salt Lake and while Soren was on the road selling

for Dinwoodey’s, Soren become acquainted with Esper Sorensen (no relationship) who

owned Broadway Furniture on Broadway Street in downtown Salt Lake. Horace, already

in Salt Lake going to the University of Utah, had the opportunity to work for Broadway

Furniture while going to school. Esper was interested in opening a branch of Broadway

Furniture in Sugar House, which at the time was a small shopping center fringed by some

residential development. From time to time he raised the subject of having Horace run it

for him. Horace said he

would consider it when

he finished at the

university.

The day Horace

graduated, Esper rented a

little old dump of a space

. . . a second hand store,

Michigan Furniture

Company, which became

the Sugar House branch

of Broadway Furniture at

2122 11th

East. Horace

set to work cleaning it up and making it into a store he could be proud of. Horace was an

eager student to learn about advertising. Esper was against advertising, saying it was too

costly, but Horace ran the ads anyway, and in one year Horace said "I was doing more

business than he could finance." Esper was also against borrowing money to expand, and

said to Horace, "Well there's only one thing to do, and that is for you, in some way, to

buy this place."

Horace first thought of his father. Soren was making good money. At that time,

however, he was out on the road. So Horace approached his wife Ethel's father, James A.

Melville. He was willing to loan some money but didn't want to invest. But Ethel's

mother Maude spoke up and said, "I'll take some stock." Horace managed to buy Esper

Sorensen out and, on January 1, 1926, Horace began his own business, which was named

South East Furniture Company. This was the beginning of doing retail business in the

Sugar House area as South East Furniture. Interviewed at the time, Horace said “Our

new slogan ‘Where the Best Costs Less’ will undoubtedly cover the situation adequately.

We plan to buy the best furniture on the market and we plan to sell it at reasonable prices,

a practice that has been beneficial to our business during the past year.” At the time

South East Furniture was started,

plans were underway to relocate just

south of the theatre on Highland

Drive.

Soren continued traveling

Utah and Idaho selling Monarch

Ranges for Malleable Iron Range

Company to help finance the new

store as it grew quickly. When the

time came that they wanted to buy

Ethel's mother's stock, Soren said

"We had to scratch around, because by then it was worth something." Horace and Ethel

ended up owning 51%, and Soren ended up with 49%, which he divided up with his other

sons, Morgan, Gordon and later Cal.

In the beginning, Horace was the general manager, Harvey Anderson was

assistant manager, and Bill Stucki was an employee. I always admired Bill for his

congeniality with a family that was so motivated. He worked ten to twelve hours a day,

doing janitorial work in the morning, selling all day, and delivering all evening. The

store was open till 9:00 p.m. Horace’s wife Ethel said, "Horace was going to make it

pay, and he did." She further added, "As he began to succeed, he gained more confidence

and became more outgoing."

While Horace was the general manager, his big thrust was in household

appliances. While Soren traveled selling Monarch Ranges on the road, Horace sold

Monarch Ranges in Sugar House, first at the Broadway Furniture branch and then at

South East Furniture.

If coal ranges could be classified as an “appliance,” then Horace found the future

in volume selling all kinds of household appliances.

My brothers were all involved in the store while going to school, however when

Morgan graduated from the “U” his love was in home decorating which involved him in

the furniture part of the business. Morgan contributed to the growth of the furniture area

of the business and made it a truly exceptional "furniture decorator store." Gordon was

the best in overall managing . . . very detail oriented . . . both complementing Horace's

promotional drive. I am indeed grateful to have had the opportunity to work with all of

my brothers.

As the country came out of the depression the furniture products started to

become available. A larger building came up for auction about one-half block south and

Soren and Horace had the opportunity of buying the better location at a low price. The

first living room furniture was made with a velour material in taupe color, all basically

the same, with a little variance in the patterns on the cushions. Morgan contributed to the

growth of the furniture area of the business and he excelled as products were developing.

These first years in an expanded business were with determination and working long

hours.

After the depression the styles in upholstered and wood furniture started to

become more sophisticated and were being designed and manufactured by skilled

craftsmen immigrating to America. This was the starting of "The American Dream" for

not only the Sorensen’s South East Furniture Co. but also for the Richards family in

Granite Furniture, just around the corner. However, during the war years, Horace

converted his horse facilities to a dairy operation, and dairy farms were purchased for

Morgan and Gordon to operate, which gave them all deferment until after the war . . .

then it was back to the furniture store.

Products then expanded and became more abundant to the point that there was a

need for a railroad spur to be built by D&RG Railroad between the two stores so that

merchandise could be shipped by railroad to both stores. At one time it was estimated that

over 60% of the products of both stores came by railroad. There was good cooperation by

both Granite and South East so that one could have the time to unload their merchandise

then exchange time

for the other store to

unload theirs. Good

relationships

developed between

the two stores so

they did not

compete by both

selling from the

same supplier. Both

stores expanded

through the years. . .

with South East

expanding into

buildings on each

side and then a building that housed a theater to the north. There was almost continuous

remodeling with different facilities to handle new expanded products.

Sugar House became well known for their promotions, like "Turkey Days" at

Thanksgiving, "Sugar Days" where sugar was given away with purchases, yes, and even

"Gas Days" were gas was given with purchases. Both South East and Granite provided

the leadership for the many things that were being done in the community. Walker Bank

and First Security Bank had the state's largest branches in Sugar House and contributed to

the support of the community. In the best years, both companies purchased large semi-

trucks and they covered the entire state in deliveries. Tom Wilkinson, our out-of-town

driver, traveled over a million

miles delivering for our store.

There was a time that the Sugar

House furniture companies

supplied a great percentage of

the home furnishings sold in

Utah.

South East Furniture

had many loyal customers and

employees that enjoyed being

part of the "institution" that it

became. Peggy Gunderson

came to work as Horace’s

secretary, but extended her

service to publishing the

“Southeasterner,” a store

magazine that had articles about

special services by employees

and personal happenings

including their families . . .

Each issue had an "As I See It"

article written by one of the

management.

Horace laid out the newspaper advertisements, always a full page, many times just

in time for the deadline after being out doing his extra projects like encouraging the

prison sight to become Sugar House Park, Pioneer Museum on his own property, or some

historic project for the Sons of the Utah Pioneers. About the store’s advertisements,

Horace once commented, “My advertising might not be beautiful, but it gets results,”

with one of the brothers saying that “the feeling of what we want to say doesn’t get lost

when we write it ourselves.”

Morgan contributed in civic activities such as the United Fund, local and national

Furniture Associations. He was the one that knew most about the furniture industry, and

he purchased all of the furniture and related products for the store. Yes, he was Sales

Manager.

Gordon was very essential in the

operation of the business by supervising

the hiring of employees, customer

relations, handling complaints and as

television became a big factor, he worked

on the production of that part of

advertising. Yes, he implemented the

Employees Profit Sharing Funds that

were beneficial to the employees.

Then Cal . . . I grew up in the

business . . . Before the war, along with school, I worked in various jobs, mostly my

choice, in all aspects of the business. There were two major fires, one was discovered

while I was studying for school in the office. Hearing the crackling and checking the

metal doors going to the warehouse where the fire could be seen around them, I called the

fire department. A few days after, Horace used his full- page advertisement to

compliment the fire department for their good response and commended Fire Chief

Percy. Years later, I met his son who immediately commented on how much his father

appreciated the recognition. The fire had destroyed a great deal of the merchandise,

however some of it had been made during the war and was of lesser quality than it's

replacement.

I enjoyed working with Owen Thygerson in delivery one summer. He had a

remarkable memory of where everything was, including the "paper work" scattered on his

desk. We implemented getting the merchandise ready for the trucks so it would save the

drivers time loading up for the next delivery. Owen originally was hired as a temporary

laborer to unload one of the railroad boxcars. Different from most, he arranged the

merchandise in an orderly way in the warehouse so things could be easily found. He was

hired permanently and was trusted and appreciated to the point that the last assignment he

had was that of having the keys to everything and securing the buildings each night.

At a very young age, I was the specialist selling Monarch Stove linings that would

burn out with use. The Monarch stove would heat at least one room, had a surface to

cook on, had an oven to bake in . . . and also warmed water when attached to the

plumbing. I also remember the paint booth in the original Sugar House store, where they

painted and decorated a five-piece dinette set. Circulating heaters were added to give

greater ability to warm the home.

While in school, I had the opportunity of selling all furniture items. It wasn't until

after the War that I had the opportunity of the complete merchandising of the Floor

Covering segment of the store which was a very interesting and enjoyable experience,

which was extended to Soren with his "personal relationships" by word of mouth contacts

and Dave Seare with his sons, Ryan and Chris, who developed "Lemco Carpets" . . both

different approaches, both successful.

Maynard Sorensen (Horace’s son) and Charles McDonald (Horace’s son-in-law)

came on board about the same time as I did and made good contributions as the store

expanded. Maynard worked with Verl Leaver in managing the office which was

challenging because Verl Leaver had his own way of doing things that had worked well

in the store's "growing years", however he was not too ready to make changes with the

"new ways" of

office procedures.

Maynard made a

good try at

implementing the

first “card

sorting” system

of controlling

inventory and

accounts

receivable prior

to the advent of

computers.

Charles and Beth developed the Patio Shop featuring Summer Furniture as it

became a major addition and something that has been extended later as "Leisure Living"

by their son, Mark. Charles also managed the Warehouse Store which was a branch of

South East Furniture Co.

Those that shopped at South East Furniture would agree that it was a pleasing

personal experience, with Horace handing out treats and the employees having a

personal association with the customers. Those who were children then still have fond

memories of their parents taking them out to see the "Special Christmas Windows.”

Customers, employees and the Sorensens were all friends. Personal relationships

were an important part of our lives. When we picked up the phone we would talk to a real

person, most of the time it was someone that we knew personally. It was before

electronics took over personal involvement in business. Sales personnel and service

employees had a sincere interest in customers. Products were backed by factory

representatives that cared.

Rarely was there a formal meeting by the Sorensen brothers and we often sat on

the stairs and talked about the happenings at the end of the day. The bankers would carry

Horace's overdrafts because they knew him personally and that he was good for getting

the money deposited.

However, time seems to change circumstances and the things that are great at one

time do not necessarily continue. As Horace and Morgan grew older their energy

declined with their health problems, interest costs to maintain a large inventory went into

double figures and computers had not been perfected. Everything considered, it was

decided in 1979 to close the store and liquidate the inventory and properties. Employees

received their shares of the retirement fund and most had other employment available.