Formerly South Orange furniture store (bunk bed shopping with a side of history)

We went out to buy bunk beds for the little guys last weekend, and discovered Berkshire Furniture on Rte 22. Classic old-school furniture store, with salespeople, small showroom, catalogs, hundreds of fabric samples, etc. Well worth considering if you are in the market for furniture, but easy to drive past if you aren't looking for it.

What I didn't know until I started talking to the owners is that they were a long-time South Orange business, and moved to the Route 22 furniture strip from Valley Street on the South Orange/Maplewood border, in 1995, just before we moved to town. They used to be in the building that Totri day care is in, I believe.

The person who took my order (one of the owners?) was a former president of the Rescue Squad, and we talked briefly about the new building, and Mary Connor's legacy.

Ha. Two or three years ago I was in an elevator of the Residence Inn, Norwood MA with the former owner of that store. Big guy? Maybe 6'4"? He was older, I'd say early 60s. He didn't say anything about moving to Route 22. He said the South Orange store was across from Blimpie. I assumed it was the spot in the Pathmark parking lot but it could have been Totri I guess.

If you look up Berkshire Furniture, South Orange online, poorly updated directory sites still list it at 465 Valley St., which is the current Totri building, between Pathmark and the new CVS.

I think that the guy you met and his son are both involved in the business at the current location, which in in a strip that houses a whole cluster of mid-range furniture businesses.

Yes! Another rec for Berkshire. I've known Larry for many years, great guy (you can sometimes find him and his son Eric dining in SO). Berkshire is the first place my family (and most of my coworkers) check when in need of new furniture.

We moved to town right after they left, and bought a lot of our furniture through them when we moved in.

They were a pleasure to deal with when we bought living room furniture last year. They are a font of info about the area

Where on 22 are they?

In the area with the center island, on the north side of the road (not the island). Can't remember exactly which cross street off the top of my head.

MsSumida said:
Where on 22 are they?

Next to the new(er) Mercedes Benz dealer and across from the Red Lobster. IIRC

Larry is fantastic to deal with along with his son. Personal service word of mouth and families have been going to his business satisfied for generations.

He gives the personal attention you dream about in a business.

I bought my son's bedroom furniture there about 10 years ago. Still going strong.