How Gardner, MA, Became Furniture Capital of New England

Gardner, MA is the "Furniture Capital of New England"? Who knew? I would never have picked up this delicious bit of trivia were it not for an extended conversation with an old friend about his old home town. As part of our frequent game of one upmanship , I had offered that my home town housed the first public library in America, which also contained books donated by one Benjamin Franklin. Not to be bested he busted out with the claim that his home town, Gardner, MA was known as "Chair City" and the "Furniture Capital of New England". I honestly am not sure who won that round but his claim sent me to research the real story of Gardner, MA

If you want to check out the truth of Gardner's claim to be the "Furniture Capital of New England" , you can simply visit the Town of Gardner, found in north central Massachusetts. It's a quiet enough little town of only about 20,000 residents but it has been around for a while dating back to the late 18th century. Today its chief physical asset is the adjacent Crystal Lake. But Gardner became the "Furniture Capital of New England" not because of its physical assests but rather because of the skills of the people who settled there.

In the 19th century a family of five brothers began making chairs, fashioning many by hand. They drew other wood craftsman to the Gardner area until by 1905 there were a total of some 20 businesses that sold chairs. Gardner was already putting together the kind of stock that drew customers from around the state and the New England area. The furniture industry continued to boom in Gardner widening and diversifying to meet a furniture seeking public.

Today Gardner, MA is host to an unequaled collection of stores that feature furniture and furniture accessories and because of its sheer size and the savings it offers can justly be called the Furniture Capital of New England. There just isn't much in the line of furniture that you won't find available, and available at a reasonable price at one of the many shops and stores in Gardner, MA and the surrounding greater Gardner area.

In all, Gardner can claim to be home to some 300 different brand names of furniture, spread out in its many stores. In all the "Furniture Capital of New England" offers 4 independently owned furniture outlets and 6 huge display floors. If you want to get a mental picture of how large and spread out the furniture stores really are just recognize that you can use three different exits off of Rt 2 to arrive at furniture outlet stores. The more times you come back the better you will know how to narrow your choices For those in search of the best quality and best price there is plenty of opportunity to compare, contrast and finely settle on the perfect piece at the perfect price to meet your needs and your pocketbook.

While most people come to Gardner with a particular purchase in mind, like that perfect rocking chair, end table or credenza, the huge showrooms lure in people who simply enjoy looking. Keeping the size of the showrooms in mind you can even get in some good exercise in the process.

One final note about Gardner, MA while my friend proved correct in claiming that his home town was the "Furniture Capital of New England", he neglected to tell me another point of local lore. Movie buffs will enjoy driving around in the town of Gardner because it was one of the locations used in the filming of the 1990's movie, "School Ties".

Sources:
www.gardneroutlets.com