Seattle Sun Newspaper - Vol. 8, Issue 2, February 2004

Copyright 2004 Seattle Sun. Please feel free to use the article below in your research. Be sure to cite the Seattle Sun as your source.

Historic home of Don Willis Unfinished Furniture evolves

By JAMES BUSH

The Don Willis Unfinished Furniture store on Lake City Way constitutes one of the retail world's greatest optical illusions.

To passing motorists, it registers as a typical storefront. But inside, the building sprawls two stories below the bank, with three levels of furniture showrooms filled with sturdy all-wood furniture. As owner Paul Willis gives a tour of the sprawling complex, a customer can be heard announcing to another salesperson: "You can get lost in this store."

And this big space just got bigger with a recently-completed addition, upping the facility to a full 20,000 square feet. Upstairs, behind a glass door with the whimsical inscription "Don Willis Unfinished Furniture: World Headquarters," is a new suite of offices with a fine view to the east of the Meadowbrook neighborhood and the Cascade Mountains beyond. At the time of our visit, Paul says he is just a week's construction work and an occupancy permit away from moving from a trailer on the site to his new digs, "So, we're anxious to get in."

Founded in 1948 by Paul's father, cabinet maker Don Willis, the store owes its labyrinthian nature to the way it was assembled. Once you walk through the entry area, the first room you enter is enclosed by the four walls of the original showroom. "We've just built around the original store," Paul Willis says.

But the latest expansion didn't come without a price. Sentiment had to give way to practicality, as the former Willis family home had to be demolished to make way for the new construction. Although the 1919-vintage home hadn't been inhabited for two decades (it was used for company storage and office space), Paul admits that watching the demolition of his childhood home brought back memories. Brother, Jack, and sister, Nancy White, were also there to watch the home fall.

The business and the history of the Willis family are intertwined. The first four years of the business, founder Don focused on custom work. When he was severely injured in a fall in 1952, wife Lillian stepped in and expanded the retail furniture end of the business.

While Paul says he inherited some of his father's knack for woodworking ("I took wood shop all through school and always did very well at it."), he admits that the sales end of the business became his favorite. "I worked through high school selling; my brother did deliveries," he says. "I always enjoyed finding out what the customer wanted and seeing if I could satisfy their needs."

Brothers Paul and Jack took over the business after their father's retirement in 1975. Jack moved on to other pursuits after about 10 years. A longtime member of the Lake City Lions who was active in the formation of the Lake City Community Center, Don died in 1996 at age 75 after suffering a stroke. His wife, Lillian, preceded him in death by six years.

But there is little doubt Don would be pleased with the high-quality wood furniture sold in the store that bears his name. "We've tried to stay a wood store in the sense that we don't carry any particle board," Paul Willis says. The furniture available is either solid wood or wood over veneer, he adds, "something that's going to maintain its integrity throughout its life."

Despite the store's name, about 60 percent of the furniture sold there is factory-finished. The rest is either sold unfinished or customers can pick the color they want and have it stained on site.

The store works mainly with smaller, Pacific Northwest-based furniture companies, notes Willis. Walking through a showroom filled with bedroom sets, he points to various pieces. "This is made in Arlington, this is made in Monroe, this one is from British Columbia."

Because of the small size of these companies, most are willing to custom make pieces to the specific dimensions supplied by the customer, he says.

The company, which employs about 15 people, opened a second retail store in Ballard four years ago. In the 1980s, it also operated a Redmond store for about five years. The company's eastward expansion didn't pan out, in part, because the Redmond-Bellevue area hadn't grown large enough to support it. The experience did teach him one lesson, Willis jokes. "We found that people from Bellevue wouldn't shop in Redmond."

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Don Willis Unfinished Furniture is located at 10516 Lake City Way NE. For more information, call 782-3333.