Coleman Davis eases himself into a chair near the front door at Plant City’s Badcock Home Furniture & More. The longtime store owner situates himself so he can keep an eye on the door, and as customers come in, he greets many of them by name.
Sure, most can’t help but take a look at the living room sets at the front of the store and make their way back to the flat-screen TVs. But, on this day, these customers have come to see Davis himself.
Davis, who, along with Crea Beauchamp, brought Badcock to Plant City more than 40 years ago, retired Sept. 14, after 51 years with the company.
“I’ve shed some tears,” he says, looking around the showroom. “It’s an emotional thing. And on Monday morning, my car will probably crank up and drive over here all by itself.”
Davis’ family, including his wife of 49 years, Sue; son, Jamie; daughter; Laura; and grandchildren, Taryn, 11, and Hope, 6, all spent time at the store on his final day. They celebrated with a special barbecue lunch and shared plenty of stories about Davis’ long, proud career in the furniture business.
Davis’ parents both worked at W.S. Badcock Company, and he followed in their footsteps, working in the warehouse during his summer vacations while in school.
He got his first taste of working in retail as a teenager, when he took a job at Plant Pharmacy.
“I learned how to meet the needs of customers,” he says. “Whether they need prescriptions, furniture or groceries — it doesn’t matter. We just need to be able to identify that need and provide for it.”
After college, he began working full-time for Badcock in 1962, at the corporate office, in Mulberry. Nine years later, he and Beachamp opened the independent Badcock Home Furnishing Center, at the corner of South Collins Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, in Plant City. In 1973, Davis and Beauchamp moved the business to its current location, 703 S. Evers St.
As the business grew, the partners opened a location in Seffner and purchased stores in Brandon and Zephyrhills. When Beauchamp retired, Davis bought his part of the business.
“This remained the bread-and-butter store,” Davis says of the Plant City location. “It’s been a blessing to be able to make a living in my hometown and have some degree of success doing it.
“The highest compliment, as a merchant, is when a customer brings their son or daughter to trade with you,” he says. “I’m proud to have had the privilege to serve four generations of customers.”
Davis says he originally planned to retire about five years ago. He sold the Brandon store and identified a buyer for the Plant City location. However, the buyer was called into full-time Christian ministry, and as the economy began its decline, Davis opted to stay with the business to help guide it through the tough times.
Now, at 71 years old, Davis says the timing is right. He sold the Zephyrhills location in June, and W.S. Badcock Corporation has purchased in September, the Plant City location, which now will be led by Manager Mike Rideout.
Davis says he is looking forward to devoting more time to the many positions within the Plant City community he holds. Currently, he serves as chairman of the board of directors for the Pregnancy Care Center of Plant City, on the Board of Trustees at South Florida Baptist Hospital and the South Florida Baptist Hospital Foundation and as a member of the East Hillsborough Law Enforcement Appreciation Committee. He also is a longtime member of the Plant City Lions Club and active in Plant City’s First Baptist Church. In 2005, he received Plant City’s Citizen of the Year Award.
“I do not intend to go home and sit down,” he says. “I’m ready for the next step. As long as the Lord has work for me to do, I’m committed to go and do it.”
Davis says he’s also excited to be able to spend more time with his family — especially at the family cabin in North Carolina mountains. He also hopes to travel more with Sue. Some of their bucket-list locations include the upper rim of the Grand Canyon, Colorado and Wyoming.
“It’s been great,” Davis says of his long career. “I love the people I’ve worked with, and I love the company I represented. It’s been a fun ride.”
Contact Michael Eng at meng@plantcityobserver.com.
