  THIS is our story.....
In 1957, Floyd and Ruth Buck lost everything they owned when their home burned to the ground. Ruth was the bookkeeper for Hamblett in Newport and Floyd was driving a Pepsi truck for Farrell Distributing. You might say they really started the hard way! Floyd was a boy who owned his own herd of cows while still in high school, had some lessons in credit woes, and always marched to his own drummer! Ruth was a self-trained bookkeeper who went to work right out of high school and later proved herself to be a very astute business woman!
So...a 20-something Floyd was busily driving his route with the Pepsi Truck and he had the Guinnere Store in Wolcott on his route. The Guinnere's - Helen and her Step-Mom Irene - were eager to sell their grocery business so they offered to hold a mortgage for the building and business. The deal was done and on April 1st, 1957, Floyd, his wife Ruth, and 2 year old Sandy moved to Wolcott to run a store.
......And, the adventure started there! -- Groceries, Christmas trees, bathtubs, toilets, antiques, hardware, gifts, guns, fishing supplies, furniture refinishing, appliances -- BUY AND SELL - DICKER AND TRADE! And then.....a sample of new furniture in a 9x12 room just to see if Floyd and Ruth could sell it. Yes, they could and the rest is history!
As business changed, additions were built, buildings were bought. The new furniture business expanded, they kept buying more. And then came advertising - if we ran an ad, would people come?? Yes, they did - and there was more growth. All told, there were 22 different expansions to grow into Vermont's largest furniture store with one of New England's largest selections. You see, it turns out that geographically, Wolcott is about an hour from just about everywhere - and so our trucks go out daily with deliveries from Rutland to the Canadian border and from the Saranac Lake area in New York to the North Conway area in New Hampshire and everywhere in between.
Maybe some will remember -- "Pay cash and save just about half" (the attorney general said this philosophy was not legal)! There was Buck's Furniture, Wolcott - Buck's Furniture, Vergennes - & Buck's Furniture, Winooski - 3 stores for a short while - too much work, too small a family to get it all done! And then there was the famous "Buck's Dumb Daughter Sale" - all done in good fun but stopped because some thought it was politically incorrect! Does this bring back memories? - "Bring your truck, bring your rope, bring your van, bring your trade, bring your cash, bring your mother-in-law!" Many of these ad campaigns made Buck's famous throughout the Northeast.
Ruth passed away from colon cancer in January 1992. Would Floyd and Sandy sink or swim without the brains of the operation? Ruth had been the financial advisor, the money manager, and she ran the administrative parts of the business. Floyd was the display manager and Sandy was involved in selling as well as creating some of the advertisements. This father/daughter team decided to "swim" and today, Buck's is larger than ever with over 40,000 square feet of showroom space.
In 1983, Sandy married Roger Howard. Roger has worked in the business since that time excluding some entrepreneurial adventures on his own. He has worked as operations manager since 1996. He is responsible for putting Buck's Furniture into the 21st Century, having shopped and interviewed for our current computer system which tracks inventory, places orders immediately, orders parts promptly as well as doing the general bookkeeping and payroll. Roger's latest project was the general contracting of our new 12,000 square foot warehouse facility, following the devastating loss of our largest warehouse by fire in 2003. Roger designed the plans, the size and location for the new one....it is racked and stacked and has been a blessing for the efficiency of handling merchandise. Building this warehouse during the winter of 2003 was no easy task...we moved into it in April of 2004. Sandy and Roger reside in Hardwick with their two best friends, Al and Jess, their Old English Sheep Dogs!
In 1995, Floyd married Gloria Buzzi, affectionately called "Glo". Glo has brought many of her talents to Buck's Furniture also. She has added much to the display areas by wallpapering many of the living room and bedroom cubicles. She is also our resident gardener. She starts most of the plants from seed in the spring and maintains the flower beds throughout the summer. In addition, Glo designed, created and maintains our web site. Floyd has weekends off now and during other times they travel. And of course, Glo has a great sense of humor and adventure, something required of anyone who is married to Buck!
And life goes on ......
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