When someone thinks of home, part of the picture is the chairs at the dining room table or the color of their sofa’s fabric. Furniture is part of what makes a house a home.
After 87 years of helping Lincoln County residents build their homes piece by piece, Sproul’s Furniture in Newcastle is preparing to shut its doors.
Starting Friday, Nov. 14, the store’s inventory was marked 30% off to thank many longtime customers for their business and begin clearing out the store.
After working at the store for over 20 years, owner Laura Stubbs said now felt like the right time to start saying goodbye.
“I love being here, I love the customers, I love the people that work for me,” she said. “I like helping people pick out beautiful things, but it goes back to responsibility.”
Stubbs told her employees she was preparing to close down the store in June. When Manager Annie Burnham, who has worked at Sproul’s for over 30 years, heard the news, she said she understood it was time Stubbs got to relax.
“[Telling employees the store was closing] was hard on her,” Burnham said. “It was hard on everybody, but we all knew it was coming. Laura’s doing this for a long time.”
With the retirement sale underway and pieces getting sold, Stubbs said she finds herself thinking back to her dad, John Sproul. He started the furniture company in 1938 and manned it until his passing in 1992, making him one of Maine’s oldest active merchants of the time, according to his obituary.
“He figured out that there needed to be a place that sold furniture,” she said. “He built up the business.”
A tribute published in The Lincoln County News in 1992 said Sproul, who once said he “had sold enough mattresses to go around the moon and back,” was a friend to all and could always be found at the furniture store.
Stubbs said she remembers her dad as a “character” who loved talking to people who came into Sproul’s. His affinity for talking with customers is just one trait he passed down to his daughter.
“[His focus] was always an emphasis on honesty and quality furniture and really good service, which still are what we’re trying to do,” she said.
As people have found out about Sproul’s Furniture closing down, Stubbs said countless customers have walked through the store’s doors armed with kisses, hugs, stories about her father, and even tears.
“It’s been an emotional rollercoaster,” she said.
When asked if she had any specific memories over the years, Burnham said it’s hard to pick from the countless people she’s helped find the perfect piece of furniture. She said she wouldn’t have stayed at Sproul’s if not for how fun the job was.
“[Laura’s] parents were just wonderful people to work for,” she said. “When Laura took over, she was just as nice to work for as her parents.”
There have been moments where Stubbs has had to put her personal taste aside, she said, but she has always enjoyed helping customers find something they love.
“We wanted [our pieces] to look beautiful in their house, and we wanted them to be happy,” she said.
Stubbs said she’s “not under any pressure” to close the store immediately, and so selling out the store’s stock will most likely determine Sproul’s Furniture’s final day.
With retirement on the horizon, she said she most of all feels grateful. On top of feeling thankful for her longtime customers as well as current and former employees, she said she’s thankful to St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church for “being the very best neighbor” and to Burnham and Assistant Manager Jen Pendleton for their professionalism, kindness, and humor.
As people stop by Sproul’s for their final visits, Stubbs said she hopes the furniture company lives in customers’ minds with a “high degree of professionalism, honesty, and integrity.”
Sproul’s Furniture, at 76 Main St. in Newcastle, is open Monday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, go to sproulsfurniture.net or call 207-563-3535.
