GATES, N.Y. — The “sold” signs wave on the couches and lamps at Becker’s Furniture on Buffalo Road with the help of the store’s fans. Two men roll all the sold chairs and love seats to be front store for the Gates institution’s final days as a business.
Becker’s will close August 10 after 72 years providing a one on one experience for generations of people seeking comfort and class for their home.
“I’ll miss the people and the interaction with customers who came year after year, said Rick Becker, the owner of a store that began during the Depression as a meat market and evolved when his grandfather began to deal in the recovery of furniture from trains that would pass through Rochester.
Becker’s ends its run as the third largest locally owned family furniture outlet in greater Rochester.
Its owner, who once broke ground in local public television as one of the first video journalists in Rochester, will leave behind furniture for his writing. Becker covers the audio industry for an internet magazine.
“There are not many stores you can go into these days where you can deal with the owner, write a bill of sale with the owner and count on the expertise that owner has over the course of his life,” said Becker.
Carlota Verdino returned to the store to check on her latest order. The Gates woman had purchased dressers for all of her grandchildren at Becker’s.
“People are going to miss this store,” Verdino said. “This was a store that was always close to home.”