Porter’s of Racine

Within Reach of All We have place the prices on our handsome stock of Dining Room Furniture We have a large assortment of Extension Tables, China Closets, Sideboards and Buffets. Nothing adds more to the appearance of a dining room than a Sideboard -- We have exceptional values at $22 to $30. Undertakers W. A. Porter Furniture Co. Embalmers A. B. Northrop, Manager. January 16, 1904.
January 16, 1904. “Within Reach of All.”
One Thing Money Cannot Do---Buy a Better Kitchen Cabinet Than the McDougall. YOU can get a kitchen cabinet made of cheap material, carlessly thrown together--"made to sell." Looks pretty good when you buy it. After a while the defects of its design show up, the wood warps, the joints open, the drawers won't work, the roaches gather, and the cabinet, instead of being a help, becomes a burden. But with the McDougall Kitchen Cabinet it's entirely different. It is made of carefully selected, thoroughly seasoned wood, so that it will endure the varying temperatures of the kitchen and last a lifetime. Constructed and fitted together with accurate care, so that everything fits snugly, yet works easily. Dust-proof, mouse proof. Pays for itself in the supplies it saves. Guaranteed to give perfect satisfaction in every way. Besides the McDougall costs little or no more than the "made to sell" kind. Come in and see the improved patterns just received. Look for The Nameplate McDougall Or It Isn't Genuine. W.A.PORTER Undertakers W.A. PORTER FURNITURE Co. Embalmers A. B. Northrop, Mgr. 513-515, Main St. EXCLUSIVE McDOUGALL AGENTS. Racine Daily Journal, June 13, 1908

URL of Porter’s website: https://www.portersofracine.com/

This is how I remember Porters. This is the southwest corner of Wisconsin Avenue and 6th Street. Photo from the Porters website.

After 152 years, furniture store Porters of Racine is closing
By Doris Hajewski of the Journal Sentinel
Published on: 12/30/2009
Porters of Racine, one of the oldest surviving high-end furniture retailers in Wisconsin, soon will close after struggling for several years with declining sales.
The announcement from the 152-year-old retailer follows recent closings in the Milwaukee area and around the country of both small independent stores and major chains, as
consumers curtailed their furniture purchases.
Through November, retail furniture sales in the U.S. dropped by 12.1%, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The decline followed an 8% slide in 2008.
“It’s very negative news for everyone here in the City of Racine and for the downtown,” said Roger Caron, president of the Racine Chamber of Commerce. “They maintain a huge presence downtown.”
Porters last week announced the closing of its Furniture Clearance Center in Wauwatosa, and Vice President Micah Waters said the flagship store was in jeopardy.
No date has been set for the closing of either location. The company earlier closed clearance centers in Brookfield and Racine.
“It’s a sad day for Wisconsin,” said Britt Beemer, chief executive officer of Charleston, S.C.-based America’s Research Group. Beemer serves as a consultant to Steinhafel and is familiar with the southeastern Wisconsin furniture market.
“It’s just a reflection of the collapse of luxury retail in America,” he said.
Porters carried furniture lines such as Stickley, Henredon, Baker, Harden and other high-end names that drew shoppers to Racine from Milwaukee and the Chicago area, Caron said. The store was one of the first furniture stores to display products in room settings, and the Porters Guild Gallery in years past was a destination for women’s group outings.
“They were a major draw in the downtown, particularly for outside folks,” Caron said. The Porter Furniture Co. has it roots in a small cabinet shop run by Allen Porter, according to the company’s Web site. His son, William Allen Porter, expanded the business into a furniture store in 1857.
The store was sold to Simon Gottlieb in 1919. The current Waters family ownership dates to 1960, when H. Robert Waters joined in partnership with Gottlieb’s widow after his death.
Porters moved to its downtown Racine location in the 1930s, when Gottlieb began buying old buildings and remodeling them into a store. With additions in later years, the store grew to its current 80,000 square feet.
Company closures

In addition to Porters, Betty Johnson Interiors in Whitefish Bay is going out of business.
These closings follow the shuttering in recent years of Armin Koch, Village Furniture, Tadych Furniture, Dinesen’s Leather, Eggert, Evans Mattress and Furniture and others.
National furniture retailers that filed for bankruptcy in 2008 included Levitz, the Bombay Co. and Leath.
Small local furniture retailers who sold mid-range to higher priced furniture already were challenged before the recession because of competition from lower-priced Chinese imports.
In a 2007 interview, Micah Waters said the Chinese furniture prices skewed consumers’ perception of what they should pay for fine furniture.
Beemer, of America’s Research Group, said the national trend of less entertaining at home also has hurt retailers of high-end furniture.
Beemer said his surveys show that people who entertain at home 10 times a year or more were likely to buy designer furniture. But the percentage of people who do that has declined in recent years, he said.