After three decades, Rod and Valerie Clark of Clark’s New and Used Furniture are ready to spend a little less time selling furniture and enjoying their own as Keith Jones took over the business July 1.
Clark’s opened Aug. 21, 1992. In the summer of that year, Rod was in the middle of his 19th-year of employment at the Jimmy Dean Meat Company plant where he worked in management. That same August, Jimmy Dean’s parent company, Sara Lee Corporation, announced that Osceola’s plant was one of two that was closing with all production moved to the Sara Lee facilities in Newbern, Tennessee. Following the company’s change of fully-vested employees from 18 years instead of 20, Rod was able to leave Jimmy Dean and jump in full-time at Clark’s, which Val and his mother had been running in the interim.
While going from meat and management to furniture might have seemed like quite a change in job description, the world of buying and selling new and used furniture and appliances was not new to Rod.
“My folks had [a store] in Winterset before that. So I bought furniture for [Dad] and went up and ran his store for him at times, so I knew what I was getting into,” Rod said.
The store’s first location was the Redfern Building on the east side of the Osceola square – the present location of First National Bank after an expansion – with their warehouse behind the Osceola Senior Center. After renting for two years, the Clarks purchased the building at 121 W. Washington St., and a couple of years after that built a 30-by-60-feet warehouse behind their building and have been in the same spot since.
Selling the store
At the time Clark’s opened, there were seven other Osceola businesses that sold furniture, appliances or both, most of them located in or around downtown. Today, Clark’s is the only one left. With a desire to see the business remain in Osceola when it came time to retire, they knew it would come down to the right person to take over. And that person was found in Jones, someone the couple have known for years.
“He’s same as family. He grew up in our house and ran around with my kids, helped [here] when he was young,” Rod said. “His niece is my granddaughter. I was glad to see him get it.”
For Jones, he said there were two big motivators in pursuing buying the store – being his own boss and family.
“I got tired of working for other people, putting in all the effort and not getting any of the reward,” Jones said.
The second motivator was his niece, Essa, who has been helping her grandparents in the store since she was old enough to do so.
“She wanted it, but she’s only 16,” Jones said.
Before Clark’s, Jones worked in sales across various industries, including selling roofing, siding, pavers and concrete blocks; he bartended, helped open Paws & Pints in Des Moines and launched perhaps his most lucrative job of all – Santa Chop. Now in his sixth year as a professional jolly old Saint Nick, Jones has had the opportunity to bring smiles and joy to faces all over the Des Moines and southern Iowa area.
“It’s just a lot of fun in general. And I get to be Santa,” Jones said. He’s looking into how he can bring Santa to the store this holiday season.
Come on in
The majority of the products sold at Clark’s are used furniture and appliances, from dining room tables, couches, recliners, cabinets, bed frames, mattresses, washers and dryers, fridges and more. Many of the products are bought at estate sales or people looking to downsize. Some of their items are found at auctions or are bought privately, such as when a person who is wanting to upgrade an appliance and sell their used one. According to Rod, beds and appliances have been the most popular items sold over the years.
For many years, Rod offered a moving service until he was no longer able to do so. While Jones is not taking moving jobs right now, he plans to get back into them in the future as he becomes more established in the store. He has also started bringing some new product into the store, including Pokémon gaming cards.
As roadwork continues out front of the store, patrons can access the front door via the sidewalk or alley, or continue coming in the back; parking is available behind the store as the street out front is not yet opened to traffic.
“Keith will treat you just about as good as I did,” Rod said with a smile. “I hope people shop with Keith as good as they have with me.”
Still around
While they won’t be in the store every day, Rod and Val can still be seen there from time to time as they help Jones get settled into the business, learning the ins and outs.
“If he gets something in… he’ll price it and I’ll come up and let him know how close he is. He’s getting pretty good at it,” Rod said. “Two weeks ago, had an estate… he was only $50 less than me for the whole household. He was proud of himself.”
The Clarks aren’t going anywhere, but do look forward to having more time for the things they enjoy and spending time with family.
“I’ll go camping, Toys for Christmas… volunteer stuff,” Val said.
For Rod, it’s fishing, camping and travel. Still, it will be a change to not see people day to day.
“I always loved talking to people,” Rod said. “Yeah, I’ll miss the people.”