Savvy shoppers looking to spruce up their office have long known the place to go: Franklin Furniture in the East Riverfront district. The three-story, 60,000- square-foot building is chock-full of chairs, desks and complete office suites from high-end to entry level, and owner Jim Snyder is always on-site to guide potential purchases.
Franklin acquires stock from companies that downsize or are upgrading —"You can't imagine the stuff people have left behind in drawers!" Snyder says — and his customers run the gamut from start-ups to nonprofits.
Franklin also offers a catalog of new office furniture for customers who are not interested in refurbished goods.
The company began as Buckland van Wall, a business that got its start when the Guardian Insurance Company closed because of the Great Depression. "They said they would get rid of all their excess furniture if they could use the building for six months," says Snyder.
Snyder's father bought the business in 1969 and moved it to its current location in the mid-1980s. "It closed, then I reopened it in 1996," he says.
Franklin is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is located at 2664 Franklin St. Call 313-393-2500.
Source: Jim Snyder, Franklin Furniture
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh