His store’s radio jingle is probably embedded in your head to stay, but Randy Snow is folding up his London furniture business after a four-decade run.
Snow, who founded The Table & Chair Co. with a partner in the fallout of the early 1980s recession, is packing it in – trading his sofas and sectionals for a beach chair, probably in Hawaii, as he winds down the business to retire at the end of the month.
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Reflecting on the big sweep of time that has passed since he and Brian Cox, whom he later bought out, started the company in 1983, Snow said closing down is “bittersweet” after all the customers he’s had over the years and the “trials and tribulations” of running an independent business.
The “ups and downs,” as Snow calls them, included some especially tough times for many retailers – the early ’90s recession, the 2008 economic meltdown and the COVID-19 pandemic, among them.
“There was a time when I didn’t even have money to bring food home for dinner,” he said Friday, adding he always managed to keep the business afloat, thanks to “prayer and supplication.”
Starting the company on the heels of the ’80s recession allowed for “a good start,” he said, and he and Cox earned back their initial investment within a year.
The retail landscape for furniture was much different then, not yet dominated by big-box retailers. The internet, and online retailing, were still a long way off.
What began as a business making and selling stacking chairs and folding tables eventually grew to include living room, dining room and bedroom furniture, as well as barstools and patio furniture.
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From the company’s factory, behind the store, Snow has also shipped to restaurant and office furniture dealers across the country.
“We’ve served a lot of people over the years,” Snow said.
At its peak, the company had about 40 employees between the store and the factory, he said. A dozen are still with him until the business is finally wound down.
Even to Londoners who were never inside its store, the Table & Chair Co. was well known – easily recognized from its giant red Muskoka chair out front, to its catchy radio advertising jingle that sang out the name of the company at 44 Meg Dr. and, from years of airtime, has become something of an earworm.
When he first heard the song, Snow said, he knew it was going to stick. A company in Georgia produced the ditty.
“I said, ‘I love it.’”
“It’s just so catchy,” he added, recalling how even complete strangers would break out singing the song if the family business came up in conversation.
The business has been a family affair, with all four of Snow’s children and his wife Kathleen having worked there at some point over its long run. They’re all “very excited” for him to retire, he said, so they can spend more time with him.
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Last summer, Snow announced his pending retirement and a going-out-of-business sale that’s been running for more than a year, prolonged by a “soured” market that made it difficult to sell the building.
The building has since been bought by a Chinese industrial hardware supply company, and manufacturing came to a halt last week, Snow said.
Once he retires, Snow said, he plans to visit his 10 grandchildren, travel back to Hawaii and go to Europe for the first time and play lots of golf.
While the company’s retail location is closed, it’s open to would-be buyers interested in inspecting inventory being sold in an online auction.
The new owner takes over July 29.
Asked what a younger version of himself would say about how the business evolved over the years and turned out, Snow said, simply: “Fine job.”
nbrennan@postmedia.com
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