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Brothers'' persistence pays off for furniture store.

Article Excerpt
Byline: Susan Palmer The Register-Guard

As a kid, David Fendrich played hide and seek among the sofas, beds and dining room tables at Brenner's Furniture, while his parents, Nathan and Beatrice Fendrich, presided over the family business.

Now, with his older brother, Jack, David runs the place. In the past six years, the two have transformed the showroom and increased sales. They've done it while keeping their store in downtown Eugene during a time when other merchants fled to malls or gave up and closed their doors.

In the past 1 1/2 years, the brothers' persistence has paid off. The Fendrichs saw a 30 percent increase in sales during that period, David Fendrich said. The two attribute the growth to a veteran sales staff working as a team, fast turnaround on orders and deliveries and new products that attract buyers.

That's no small feat, considering the state of the economy, both nationally and locally.

Furniture retail sales have been flat since 2001, with just a few retailers reporting 3 percent growth during the past three years, said Mike Pierce, spokesman for the National Home Furnishings Association, a nonprofit trade group.

"Somebody with 30 percent growth anytime, that's phenomenal, but in this economy, I think that's incredible," Pierce said.

Jack and David Fendrich represent the third generation of a family...

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