A Family Owned and Operated Home Furniture Retailer
Since 1944, when our family opened this furniture store, Sigrist’s Furniture has been offering the widest selection of living room, dining room, bedroom, office, and entertainment furniture in the Sturgis and Michiana area. You wouldn’t purchase a new outfit without trying it on first and we believe that holds true for furniture as well. That is why our family purchased the historic Elliott Hotel so we could expand our showroom and have all of our furniture out on display for customers to try out for themselves before making a purchase.
We make buying new furniture easy with interest-free financing plans and the best selection of furniture brands in the area including La-Z-Boy, Ashley Furniture, Coaster and Simmons’ Mattresses. Our spacious showroom has all of our furniture offerings on display for every room of the house -bedding, living room, dining room, office, and entertainment- so you can visualize how they will look in your home, and more importantly, you can feel the comfort for yourself.
Our small, dedicated staff of salespeople have over 100 years of experience and are truly knowledgeable on all of the furniture we sell. They are the specialists on all of the makes, styles, and accessories we carry so you can be sure that you’re receiving expert advice on any questions you have.
And for your convenience, we offer delivery on all furniture purchases. In fact, delivery is free within a 20-mile-radius of our location and for those visiting us from further out, we are still able to provide delivery service to your destination for a small fee.
Our History
In the early 1940’s, John and Lucille Sigrist traveled from South Bend, IN to Sturgis, MI, which at the time was viewed as the next up and coming town in the area. With a background in furniture sales and auctioneering, John and Lucille opened the original Sigrist’s Furniture store in 1944. In the early days of the business, John would travel to Chicago to purchase inventory as there was a lack of salesmen in the Sturgis area. But with his knowledge, he was able to source out suppliers and bring the furniture back to the store and set it up for sale.
John and Lucille had two children, a son Ralph and a daughter Donna. Both grew up in the family business. Ralph worked alongside his father and became a salesman and Donna’s husband, Richard Messner, got in on the family business as well. In those early days, everyone in the family performed the duty of whatever needed to be done- salesmen, driver, delivery, assembly, storage- you name it. It truly was a “family run” business in every aspect.
The booming 1950’s saw an increased growth in the Sturgis community and economy which led to John hiring 4 new salespeople. While this expanded the staff outside of the Sigrist family, it wasn’t long before the new employees became like family and long-time friends. These four, Labon Smith, Larry Kraft, Marcus Carpenter, and Jean Shears, were all as committed to the success of the business as the Sigrist family themselves.
Marcus, a master craftsman, installed carpet from 1948 until 1991 when he fully retired. Labon was hired as a salesman and worked from 1953 until he passed away in 1997. He was the consummate salesperson who not only knew the products inside and out but was a genuine people person. To this day, Labon is remembered by numerous customers for the excellent service he provided. Jean Shears worked for Sigrist’s Furniture for 51 years from 1956 until the end of 2007. As the longest-tenured employee in the history of the business, Jean was the company bookkeeper, and also a salesperson. Larry Kraft was hired in 1961, originally to help in the back room and on deliveries. He eventually became the service manager and was also a master of wood finishing and filling for repairs. And with a wonderful sense of humor, Larry was known for his story and joke telling,
Ralph Sigrist and Dick Messner became co-owners when they purchased the business from John and Lucille in 1960 and continued to operate the business until 1992. At that time, Dick’s two sons, Richard and Fred Messner purchased the furniture store and continue to run it in the same family-fashion that John and Lucille did when they opened way back in 1944. Having grown up working in the backroom during their elementary school days and continuing on after college, Richard and Fred know first-hand how to run the family business.