By Roy De La Rosa
Surrounded by empty storefronts, in a once thriving Vestal business intersection sits Pease Furniture and Appliance Store. It is the only branch of this company which has ever existed but its limbs have extended across the last century of Knoxville’s history.
In order to build a community, a level of stability must be achieved. Pease Furniture has been the most stable presence in the Vestal /South Knoxville area. It is one of the longest running single-ownership businesses in Knoxville, having been around since 1929.
Legacy
Joe Pease, the patriarch of the company, got his start as a grocer, going into business for himself by opening a grocery store in 1929. His wife, Ana became a staple of the community as she primarily ran the register of the grocery store. In 1930, their son, Willie was brought in to help with the family business. While she managed the storefront and Willie covered much of the grounds, Joe managed to make his presence known throughout the community.
As evidenced in a 1932 newspaper advertisement for Swan’s Bakery, Joe Pease believed that, “The greatest satisfaction in any business is to please the customer.” He swore by the brands he used on his shelves, but that wasn’t where his dedication for his patrons ended. During the Depression and into World War II, when Americans were called upon to tighten their belts in the name of patriotism, many in the South Knoxville came to fall on hard times. In response, Joe provided groceries to families which were going hungry, at no cost.
This act of altruism was the first of many things which have led customers to keep returning to Pease for more than three quarters of a century. In addition to helping those in need, Joe also provided opportunities to aspiring athletes in the area by sponsoring several sports teams through the years. He had a strong affinity for baseball. He would tour with some of his teams as they hit the road, often donning the uniforms of the teams as a manager would do.
During the World War II, when many of Major League Baseball players went off to war, an all-woman league was formed to fill the void. The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) was created and eventually made famous by the film “A League of Their Own”. One of the best players in that league was a Knoxville native by the name of Doris Sams.
Doris was allowed to join a girl’s softball team in 1938, before she was old enough, and she helped lead her team to a state title in seven of the eight years she played with the team. In 1941, her team actually made it as the Tennessee representative in the national tournament. With the influence of Joe Pease promoting and sponsoring the Knoxville teams, Doris Sams eventually made her way in to the AAGPBL where she earned the Player of the Year award twice (1947 and 1949). After the league closed in 1958, she returned to South Knoxville, working for the Knoxville Utilities Board. Doris will be a part of the Vestal history down the line.
Leading up to the war, Joe had been incorporating more family in to the business. His son, Willie was a fixture at the store, leading up to the war. Willie was called to duty from 1942-1945, being stationed as a cook in the lower jungle region of New Guinea under the command of Gen. Douglas MacArthur.
After helping turn around the war, Willie returned to the family store to assume more responsibility. When he returned and started to help run the store, America was making a shift toward easily accessible electricity. Tennessee Valley Authority was hitting stride, changing the terrain of East Tennessee. Willie’s brother, Ardist, actually worked for TVA at the time, but that didn’t stop the store from growing.
Latching on to the expansion of electricity, Joe helped to introduce the region to central air conditioning. Part of getting people in the surrounding areas to commit to such a grand investment, was that people would have to be exposed to the wonders of keeping the house cool. Pease would host an air conditioning tent. It was a chance for consumers to get a first-hand account of the feeling of A/C by stepping in to a vinyl tent with an A/C unit blowing cool air in a contained environment. It really helped the appliance side of the business take off.
As time progressed, Joe’s son assumed more control of the company. Willie’s influence to the community rivaled that of his father’s. In addition to having served his nation in WWII, Willie was also a charter member and former board member of the Vestal Boys Club. He didn’t serve in this position to simply have good press. He actually committed to helping out financially what would eventually become the Vestal Boys and Girls Club.
People who grew up spending time in the Boys and Girls club often recall the Pease family generosity to the community. Terrence Curtis, 39, spent seven years living in the Vestal area. “When I was 10, 11, 12, he (Willie) would send money down to the Boys and Girls club to buy us a burger, fries and a drink from Dot’s Grill. We couldn’t afford the three dollars for it, but he would often send enough for everyone there to get some lunch.”
Remember how I said that Doris Sams would return to the story later? Well, that Dot’s Grill which was mentioned was founded by Sams. One of the people who benefitted from and were championed by Joe’s communal acts actually intersected with one of the communal acts of Willie, about fifty years later.
Today
Now, the store is being run by the third generation of Pease family members. Joe’s grandson, Jerry joined his Uncle Willie in running the family business in 1961. Willie’s daughter, Sandy eventually joined in 1976, five years after Jerry recommended that her husband, Greg Snyder be brought on board.
When asked how the business has survived for 85 years, Jerry Pease had one simple answer. “Loyalty. Repeat customers are a big part of our success.” Even after the Vestal area went in to decline and many of the surrounding business folded, Pease Furniture and Appliances has survived. This center of the Vestal community has survived the Great Depression, World War II and the recent economic decline. “We have people from Maryville, Seymour and Nashville buy from us,” said Pease.
They have also been known to take good care of their employees. Jerry and Sandy are quite proud of having two employees who held only one job for the duration of their entire career until they retired. “They became part of our family,” said Pease. The first one, Troy Doneski was actually hired by their grandfather, Joe. “Troy was walking by on his way home after school one day, from Young High School. We needed to hire someone. He was just walking down the street and grandfather asked him if he wanted a job. He was seventeen years old and worked here until he retired, sometime in his seventies.” The second one, Danny Ray Green, “was hired when he was fourteen. He’d show up and start sweeping the store. He wasn’t on the staff, but he needed money, so he’d just pick up a broom and start sweeping. Eventually, he was hired on and he worked here until he was 62.”
Loyalty isn’t the only thing which has kept them in business. Offering many different furniture and appliance options at competitive prices also helps them stay in business. Pease Furniture and Appliances now houses nine different showrooms featuring renowned brands the likes of GE, Sealy Bedding, Best Chair, Catnapper, Broyhill and Carolina bedding (just to name a few). Some of these companies allow for Pease to offer more than 400 different furniture fabrics of various patterns and textures. As a result, they do as much business by filling custom orders as they do from selling furniture from the sales floor.
Pease Furniture and Appliances is a beautiful example of how taking care of your community can get you far in this world. Regardless of the convenience of ordering from Amazon, a family business can survive on good public policy, good business practices and by actually being a part of the community within your surroundings.
Without the community, Pease Furniture and Appliance wouldn’t still be standing, but without the practices of the Pease family tree, the Vestal community wouldn’t be as historically rich as it is today.
