Industry Retail (Specialty) Area served Internet | Founder John Breuner Ceased operations 2004 | |
Former type American private company Defunct 2004 (retailer, still available as an online furniture company) Key people Bill Breuner, Beth Breuner Grebitus Founded 1856, Sacramento, California, United States | ||
Breuners Home Furnishings or Breuners is an online furniture company that was a chain of brick and mortar furniture stores in the United States for 148 years before declaring bankruptcy in 2004.
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Founded in California during the California Gold Rush in the mid-19th century, its stores served California and Nevada before expanding to the east coast in the late 20th century. In 2004 the company declared bankruptcy, closed all its retail stores, and now operates solely through the Internet.
History
The store was founded in 1856 by William Robert “Bill” Breuner’s great-grandfather John Breuner (1828–1890) to cater to prospectors during the California Gold Rush. The first store opened in Sacramento, California with subsequent branches in Oakland, San Francisco and later throughout California and Nevada. The company went public in 1968 under Bill Breuner. Breuner sold the company in the 1970s and it was acquired by Marshall Fields in 1983. At its height Breuners operated 40 retail outlets. The stores were large bigboxes around 140,000 square feet (13,000 m2). By the 1990s the company was based in San Diego and in 1995 expanded into the New York and New Jersey markets by acquiring Huffman Koos’ 13 stores for 36.9 million dollars. Breuners also owned Good’s Furniture stores.
Legacy
Breuner Marsh, a wetlands area, and Breuner Field, a model airplane field within it, in addition to the Breuner Building in downtown Oakland, are all named after the family.