A literal end of an era arrived for Eatonton on April 13, as Blackwell Furniture, a mainstay of the city’s downtown business fabric for 78 years, officially began its going-out-of-business sale.
Opened in 1945 by John Samuel Blackwell Sr. in a combination of what already were five aging storefronts along the west side of North Madison Avenue, the business gradually grew to include three more adjacent buildings, each painstakingly restored with largely period-correct accuracy, with another opened as a clearance center directly across the road.
Among the buildings is a theater, still complete with stage and ticket office, anchoring the north end of the unique Blackwell Furniture complex, while the south end represents a cornerstone for Eatonton, where North Madison meets West Marion Street, featuring the largest of the storefronts, with a staircase toward its rear that leads to a once-secret meeting place of the local Masons.
In the middle storefront, where the original store existed, there remains a still-operational elevator that once transported horse carriages and buggies assembled on the second story to street level facing the back alley.
Now in his late-70s, J.S. Blackwell Jr., best known as “Sammy” in local circles, took over the business from his father in 1973, but it was no handoff to a privileged son, he stressed.
“I bought it from him, at fair market value,” Blackwell said. “It was strictly a business transaction.”
Under Junior’s stewardship, the store continued to prosper and expand into those additional buildings through the remainder of the 20th century. Gone were the days of Blackwell laying twin strips of rubber on Eatonton’s streets with a 400-horsepower Olds 442 as he concentrated instead on building Blackwell Furniture into a Southeast furniture sales powerhouse.
Routinely making deliveries to Macon, Athens, Augusta, and all points in between, Blackwell recalled once sending his truck to make a northwest Florida drop-off. And of course, many of the most fashionable homes in Eatonton and throughout Putnam and its neighboring counties were furnished through the Blackwell store.
“We sold so much furniture out of here, it’s kind of hard to imagine,” Blackwell recalled while taking a moment to sit and reflect at a showroom kitchen set now destined for liquidation. “We had three trucks going out full every day.”
Business has slowed somewhat since those heady days, but that’s not why he’s opting out at this point, Blackwell insisted.
“We still do pretty well, we’re still selling furniture. I’ve got more than 60 brand-new recliners in the basement under us right now just waiting to move up here after we sell some more,” he said. “I just want to spend more time on my farm, working with the cows and doing some more hunting out there.”
News of the closeout sale caught many in Eatonton by surprise, with the store’s Facebook page filled with comments like “Say it’s not so,” “Hate to see this,” “Sad to see,” and most simply, “Oh no.”
But Blackwell said although the furniture store is closing for good, he’s not in any hurry to let the buildings go. In fact, he’d like to see them eventually turned into an artistic center, perhaps as an art gallery or artists’ space, or even see someone resurrect the theater to present small musical acts or plays someday.
“We’re not going anywhere,” he insisted. “It’s just time to get out of the furniture business and do something else.”