“My grandfather started the New Orleans Furniture Company in the thirties. The store was on Selma street, where I-10 is now. We moved to the corner of Elmira and Washington Avenue, then moved again because urban renewal tore down our building and the neat old houses around us. They replaced them with the ranch-style houses that you see today. They also tore down the old homes to build the Mobile Civic Center. Before urban renewal, there were more stores in neighborhoods and corner groceries where you could pay on credit. Our store has been in this building on Broad Street since 1970.

My grandfather sold insurance and collected payments at people’s homes. That led to selling furniture. He sold dishes, appliances, TVs, and radios. Some of his customers couldn’t get credit anywhere else. They paid him as little as $1.50 every two weeks. I still try to give people a chance. One customer was on drugs for a few years and quit paying. She got her life back on track and paid off what she owed. Now she sends customers my way. We have worked with some families for five generations and have parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents as customers.

My father grew up on a farm in Tennessee. He lived in a boarding house on Texas Street when he was in the Navy. My mother lived across the street with her family. They met and married, then my father took over the store after my grandfather died. I grew up in the store. Running a store wasn’t what Dad wanted to do so he also built houses on Dauphin Island. He died at 59. The title on my grandfather’s business card was manager so he could say, ‘The big boss said no.’ My father’s card said owner and mine says manager. I’m not worried about titles. I just work in a little store on Broad Street.

Working in this store is all I’ve ever done. I have seen changes as people moved to West Mobile or over the bay to get away. Some moved to Detroit and New York for better jobs, then they retired and moved back here. In the ’70s and ’80s, some people were so negative on Mobile. That has changed with more opportunities here.

Much of the furniture is now made in China, Vietnam, and Taiwan. Pieces with upholstery are the only ones still made in the U.S. The shipping crisis has made it harder to get furniture from overseas. I don’t take people’s money until the order gets here because I don’t want to let people down. When I tell you it’s going to be here by a date, I want it to be here. I am also the delivery boy and want to unpack it and make sure it’s in good shape.

Running is my break from the store. I still run 5ks and 10ks. That’s enough for a half-a-hundred-plus-year-old man. I will do the Azalea Trail Run, the Senior Bowl, the Turkey Trot and other runs for as long as I can. I don’t want to say I am too old.”

Mark