Grand Home Furnishings history

“I’m holding my grandfather’s business card from when he started in the furniture business in 1931,” he said as a hush fell over the crowd, which included city officials, store employees and customers.

In 1937, Cartledge, along with Sherman and Seltzer, started Southeast Wholesale Furniture in Atlanta.

In 1945 George Cartledge, Sr. of Atlanta and two business partners bought Grand Piano Company.

Kincaid was started by George and J. Wade Kincaid in 1946 in a small building where a handful of employees produced cedar chests and wardrobes.

Grand Furniture began as a small, one-store operation in downtown Norfolk , in 1947.

George Cartledge bought out his partners in 1950, the same year that the store launched its popular annual warehouse sale.

Grand began expanding outside of Roanoke in February 1951 when it opened a store in Radford, Virginia, followed later in the year with a store in Covington, Virginia.

In 1953 Grand opened a fourth store in Lynchburg, Virginia.

The company grew through acquisition for the first time, buying M.C. Thomas Furniture Co. of Charlottesville, Virginia, and converting it into a Grand Piano store in October 1957.

Another acquisition took place in Lexington, Virginia, in 1959 when Grand picked up Brown Furniture Co. and added it to the chain of Grand Piano stores.

The latter occurred in May 1963 when a corporate airplane crashed in the mountains of North Carolina, killing the pilot and one executive and injuring three others, including Karl Cartledge.

By this time, George Cartledge, Sr. had begun developing a succession plan, part of which included naming George Cartledge, Jr. company president in 1972.

A Harrisonburg clearance center was added in September 1982.

The Charlottesville clearance center was shuttered the following year and the Winchester clearance center followed in 1995.

With piano sales experiencing a steady decline over the years, the company finally exited the music business in 1998.

A second Kinkade gallery opened in the Winchester store in 2001.

Stewart, Keisha, "Roanoke, County, Va., Furniture Store Renovates Style, Selling Strategy," Roanoke Times , October 26, 2002.