Mueller Furniture owner Mark Mueller cuts the ribbon at the fourth-generation retailer’s newest store in Ellisville, Mo., a suburb of St. Louis.
BELLEVILLE, Ill. — With locations on the eastern and western edges of the St. Louis metro area, Mueller Furniture’s latest move puts it closer to the heart of The Gateway to the West.
The fourth generation family-owned retailer recently opened at 15424 Manchester Road in Ellisville, Mo., a suburb of St. Louis.
“We’ve been on the periphery of the St. Louis metro area. Belleville is the metro east, and Lake St. Louis is in western St Charles County on the tip of the St. Louis area,” said Mark Mueller, fourth-generation owner. “This location is strategically located 35 minutes from Lake St. Louis and 45 minutes from Belleville.”
Mueller said the decision to open a store between its existing showrooms is already paying dividends.
“There are a lot of folks who said they’ve seen our ads and wanted to shop our American-made furniture, but we weren’t close enough,” he said. “A lot of the customers are saying great things about where we are.”
Mueller said having a store located far enough away from its other two showrooms is great in that it’s creating new opportunities, rather than siphoning customers away from its other spots.
“It’s important. We don’t want to grow too big. We’re really happy with our current size. We’re far enough away that we’re not taking away from our existing two stores,” Mueller said. “It’s all new business. It has worked out strategically and geographically for us.”
Plus, Mueller noted, it doesn’t hurt that the newest Mueller Furniture location is on the site of Dau Furniture, a fifth-generation store that was the St. Louis area’s oldest when its owners retired. Mueller said Dau’s customers had a certain expectation of quality, and he is confident that Mueller Furniture can build on that standard with brands like Smith Brothers of Berne, Ind.; Flexsteel; and an Amish-made furniture gallery, as well as mattresses from Tempur-Pedic and Chattam & Wells.
“They had a great business in their fifth generation. They were St. Louis’ oldest furniture store, and they were in a position where they were looking forward to retirement and we were looking to expand,” he said. “We’re happy to be able to carry on their tradition. They carried really nice furniture. People know this location as one where you can buy heirloom-quality products.”
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