In 50 years you see a lot, multiple pandemics, recessions, customers passing away and new ones being born. All these hurdles did not stop the local Kuiken family from building a thriving business in Acton and online that has span across three generations.
This past Saturday, 08/ 27 /22 Halton Hills Furniture celebrated their 50th year of operation. Owners Heather, Daine and former owners Ron and Jake all came to celebrate 50 years of operation.
Halton Hills furniture is a local furniture store which sells everything from Maytag appliances, custom sofas, sectionals, beds, chairs, and more.
Halton Hills Furniture was originally started in 1972 in the Beckers Plaza by Jake Kuiken, the grandfather of current owner Daine. In 1985 the store moved uptown to 17 Mill Street. In 1992 Ron Kuiken, (father of Daine) purchased the business from his father. The store then moved to its current location, 2 Main Street North, in 2005. Current owners Daine (son of Ron) and Heather purchased the business from Ron in May of 2021.
Photo: Jake Kuiken, Original Owner of Halton Hills Furniture
“I started off as a delivery boy when I was 15 for my father” says Ron, “When I took over the business, Daine was able to help me from when he was about 15 and on. Now he has learned an awful lot that he ended up running the show”.
Former owner Ron still works at the store, but now as a salesman. Heather takes care of the books and accounting and some sales, while current Owner Daine does a bit of everything.
“Obviously we wear a lot of hats around here” says Daine. “ I do sales, deliveries, purchasing, financing, a bit of everything. Heather takes care of the business side.”
Daine tells Acton UP, “There’s been a lot of ups and a lot of downs, but it has been consistent.”
The Kuikens discussed the pandemic and how selling mostly Canadian made products helped them through covid.
“We do as much Canadian made as we can. So most of our upholstered items you can get custom, and they’re Canadian made products with Canadian made fabrics, that’s been very important to us for basically the life of the business, and we’re very proud of that. Especially durning the pandemic, it worked out really well for us. We didn’t have the same supply chain issues that some people had who are bringing a lot of imported items in.”
50 years is no small feat, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 20% of businesses fail within the first 2 years of being open, 45% within the first 5 years, and 65% within during the first 10 years. Only 25% of business make it to 15 years or longer once they open their doors. 50 years of service puts Halton Hills Furniture into a bracket that many businesses could only dream of.
Acton UP asked the Kuikens what gave them their longevity and success.
“Take care of your customers, you know, they’re number 1.” says Ron. “They’re not always right, but you take that extra mile, that extra step, big boxes don’t do that, you become a number. When you’re dealing with us we tell customers that we’re not only going to sell it to you, but we are going serve you afterwards, and guess what, we are also the customer complaint department. You don’t have to go to a separate customer complaint department.”
Ron tells Acton UP how Halton Hills Furniture goes above and beyond in their customer service. “If peoples fridge dies, and we don’t have a fridge right away we order it. If we have a used one, we will loan it to you. We have a couple loaner fridges out there as we speak.” Ron says “ You’re not going to get that from the big box store, or any store we speak of. We’re going that extra mile, and people remember that.”
Photo L-R: Heather, Daine and Ron Kuiken, Present and Past Owners of Halton Hills Furniture
Heather tells Acton UP “ I don’t give promises I cant keep, and I think that is important.” Heather says “ If I can’t get a product for six months, I will tell you I can’t get it for six months. People just want a honest response, if you tell them it’s going to be six months, it sucks that it’s going to be six months, but we hit all of our promise dates with that.”
Ron and the store keeps letters and articles and even have some framed that they received through the years from customers.
One letter reads…
“My family and I had a very unique experience this past week. It was a rare thing that happened to us. It’s called "Total Customer Satisfaction.” I think in this day and age that is something people only dream about.
We bought a fridge from Halton Hills Furniture& Appliances, and ended up with a very minor problem with the appliance Not only were the staff and owner available to listen to our complaints, they went the extra mile by replacing the fridge with another new one. They apologised [sic] for any inconvience, and were so pleasant and helpful it was a consumers dream come true I have never had this kind of service from a large department store. I guess it really is worth the drive to Acton!
Sincerely,
The McDonald Family”
Daine tells us, “The biggest thing we strive for is that we do a good job, our customers are happy and satisfied, and I think that is one of the biggest keys to success of being open 50 years is just being there for our customers”.
Congratulations to the Kuiken family and Halton Hills furniture on 50 years, here is to 50 more.
To celebrate their 50 years, Halton Hills Furniture is having a tent sale, as well as a raffle in which every $100 spent gets you a ticket. To find out more about Halton Hills Furniture you can visit… Haltonhillsfurniture.ca
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