In its heyday, the realm now often called the Neon District within the downtown part of Norfolk had quite a lot of furnishings shops.
Nearly all are gone, and on Dec. 31, Virginia Furnishings Co. will be a part of the listing. After 86 years, the family-owned and -operated retailer is holding a going-out-of-business sale.
First cousins Jeff and David Laibstain, second-generation homeowners and ages 64 and 69, respectively, have each determined it’s time to retire.
“We’ve been working just about six days per week for 40 years,” David Laibstain stated. “And , Sunday goes by fairly shortly.”
The boys took over the enterprise from their fathers, Leonard and Harry Laibstain, who began the enterprise collectively as youngsters in 1939.
Occasions have been powerful again within the Thirties and early Nineteen Forties they usually have been in pursuit of a great dwelling. After the enterprise acquired going, Leonard took just a few business-related faculty programs. Harry, a proficient trumpet participant, additionally introduced in cash by taking part in alongside different swing period gamers.
The Laibstain brothers opened the enterprise of their dwelling within the Berkley part earlier than they settled on their first brick-and-mortar location on Church Avenue. Lease was $25 monthly.
In 1964, they relocated the enterprise close by to the previous Downtown Plaza on St. Paul’s Boulevard. And in 2005, Virginia Furnishings Co. made its last transfer to the nook of Granby Avenue and Olney Highway. All of the strikes have been inside a one-mile radius as the shop regularly elevated its footprint.
From the beginning, the brothers carpooled to and from the shop collectively six days per week. They labored side-by-side and ate lunch within the retailer’s dinette space.
Leonard Laibstain, Jeff’s father, labored within the enterprise for 80 years. The pandemic compelled his retirement, and he died in 2023 at 98. The recliner chair the place he loved many noon naps nonetheless has a outstanding place within the retailer.
Harry Laibstain, David’s father, labored till he was 91. He died in 2012 from pancreatic most cancers.
“I feel they have been the closest brothers most likely on the planet,” David Laibstain stated. “And so they made a hell of a workforce.”
Many say the identical about Jeff and David Laibstain. Typically mistaken for brothers, the 2 boast that they, like their fathers, by no means had an argument.
They joined the household enterprise in 1986 and, after devoting their time, gained respect from the group for his or her honesty and stable enterprise.
Collectively they juggled and divvied up the numerous duties of small enterprise possession: promoting, housekeeping, merchandising, ordering, showcasing, promoting, answering telephones and bookkeeping.
Jody Laibstain, David’s spouse, had her personal profession however remained supportive, she stated. Jeff’s spouse, Bonnie, got here on board in the course of the pandemic to assist. She modernized the previously handwritten, old school “by the e-book” system, bringing the vast majority of the financials on-line. The in-house financing established by the patriarchs remained a continuing.
Competitors with big-box shops wasn’t actually a problem because the Laibstains stated they have been at all times extraordinarily consumer-centric.
“We tried to kill them with kindness,” David Laibstain stated. “And if that they had a service name, we’d take them very very significantly.”
Each buyer obtained a free present — or tchotchke as they favored to name it — with a purchase order.
Armed with their very own vans and in-house supply drivers, Virginia Furnishings Co. provided free supply and free setup — plus generally even same-day supply — establishing it as an anomaly in an ever-changing retail panorama.
“We additionally discovered very nice folks to work for us and we saved them endlessly,” David Laibstain stated of their truck drivers, warehouse and workplace employees.
Richard Miles labored alongside all 4 males for 40 years, till he, too, retired in 2017. The youthful Laibstains take into account him their mentor.
David Laibstain recalled generations of the identical households coming to the shop through the years.
Kerri Estrella of Virginia Seaside stays grateful to the Laibstains for serving to her get her footing when she relocated from New Jersey eight years in the past with simply mattresses for her kids and herself.
“I used to be in a position to furnish our residence as a result of we didn’t have something and I’ve continued to return to them for each piece of furnishings,” Estrella stated. “I’m one in every of many Hampton Roads residents who is gloomy to see them go.”
Katherine Williams of Norfolk has been a buyer for 40 years and calls them the final of a breed.
“They have been actually a pal to the working man,” she stated.
Now with the ultimate days of the enterprise counting down, the Laibstains are getting ready for his or her retirement. David Laibstain started refinishing classic furnishings just a few years in the past and plans to proceed with that pastime. The cousins additionally plan to find time for different actions akin to journey, household, studying, and taking part in golf.
However furnishings — and the enterprise and clients that offered their livelihoods — won’t ever be too removed from their minds.
Sandra J. Pennecke, 757-652-5836, sandra.pennecke@pilotonline.com
