Conn's history

Eastham Plumbing and Heating grew with the town, but in 1931, in the midst of the Depression, the business failed.

Stephens Inc. was founded by Wilton R. Stephens in 1933 to broker cheap Arkansas highway bonds hurt by the Depression, which his father, a state legislator, convinced him the state would eventually honor.

1934: C.W. Conn takes over the company.

In 1937, Conn's began selling refrigerators and soon added gas ranges to its inventory.

By 1940, Conn had purchased a store building and moved the company to 268 Pearl Street in Beaumont.

Witt Stephens's brother, Jackson, joined the firm in 1946 and ten years later became an equal partner and took over as CEO. He headed the firm for the next 30 years, growing it into what many regarded as the premier regional investment banking firm in the country, and 15th largest in the industry.

After he grew up, in 1953, he went to work at the store on a full-time basis.

His father, John J. Frank, Jr., first went to work for Conn's in 1956, taking a job as a salesman on the floor.

His son started out working at Conn's in 1957 when he was a high school junior, serving as a delivery truck helper.

The company's second store opened in 1959 on Eleventh Street in Beaumont.

He recognized that customers needed dependable, quality service and founded Conn's retail service repair and maintenance subsidiary company, Appliance Parts and Service, in 1962.

In 1964, he co-founded Conn Credit Corporation, a retail credit financing services company, to provide retail credit financing services to Conn's customers.

The Year 1966 found the company with four stores and a total sales volume of $4 million.

Lake Charles, Louisiana was the site of Conn's first out-of-state store opened in 1969.

Conn, Sr. died in 1975 and Carlton Russell Jr. became Chairman of the Board.

He became a member of the board of directors in 1980.

In 1983 the emerging appliance chain would expand westward to the Houston market.

After he retired in 1986 and was succeeded by his son Warren, the firm continued to play an influential role in Arkansas business and politics, but it began to lose its edge in the wider arena.

In 1993, Conn's experienced its first $100 million sales volume year and opened its first San Antonio, Texas, location.

Thomas Frank, Sr. became Chairman of the Board of Conn's in 1994.

Williams C. Nylin, Jr., would become president and chief operating officer in 1995, and Frank's brother, C. William Frank, also would join the company, taking over as CFO while Atnip became secretary/treasurer of the company.

Under Frank's leadership, the company continued its growth trend and established itself as a major player in the retail sales industry as total sales volume grew to more than $200 million in 1997.

In July, 1998, the company reorganized and brought in a new financial partner, The Stephens Group, Inc.

The chain reached $200 million in annual sales volume in 1999.

With the addition of new stores, the chain improved revenues to $279.7 million in fiscal 2000 and $330.3 million a year later.

The chain then opened its first stores in Austin and Corpus Christi in 2002.

Conn's, Inc. became a publicly traded company on November 25, 2003, when it sold 4.6 million shares in its initial public offering.

In 2012, Conn's expanded into Arizona with a location in Tucson, Arizona, and later in July, they expanded to the Phoenix area with the opened a location in Mesa, Arizona.