Photo / Courtesy Chilton
The location at 410 Payne Road offers Pierce Furniture better visibility.
Updated: May 19, 2025
Scarborough relocation gives family owned furniture store more visibility
PHOTO / COURTESY PIERCE FURNITURE
Larry and Jocelyn Pierce are the fourth generation of the fifth-generation Pierce Furniture.
Pierce Furniture, a fourth-generation retailer in Scarborough, scooped up more visibility with the acquisition of a retail property previously occupied by Portland furniture retail company Chilton.
Pierce Family Properties LLC bought 410 Payne Road from Chilton Properties LLC for $3.5 million.
Mark Malone of Malone Commercial Brokers worked with both the buyer and seller in the off-market transaction.
“It’s a great location for us,” said Larry Pierce, who owns the business with his wife Jocelyn.
Five generations
Pierce Furniture’s roots date back to 1920, when Larry Pierce’s great-grandfather, Chester Pierce, and a partner, Bert Kenniston, started C.A. Pierce Co., which repaired, refinished and upholstered furniture.
Larry’s grandfather Donald joined the company in 1945 as an upholsterer. Donald’s son Bob grew up around the business, beginning with jobs like removing old finish and hand-sanding.
In 1961, the business sold to an outside party, but soon sold back to Donald and Bob. In the 1970s, Bob bought out Don and, in addition to running C.A. Pierce as a refinishing business, he started Pierce Furniture, slowly building inventory and gradually swapping out shop space for showroom space. Bob’s wife Joan played a major role in the growth and expansion of Pierce Furniture. Soon they bought land and built a large new showroom at 600 Roundwood Drive in Scarborough.
Business was good and within a few years, they opened another store in Roundwood and called it Home & Cottage. In 1994 they opened a third store in Roundwood, which exclusively sold the nationally known line of Stickley Furniture.
Larry and Jocelyn Pierce bought the company from his parents in 2004 and their children now work there.
Visibility
Larry and Jocelyn Pierce relocated the 600 Roundwood Drive store to 410 Payne Road, which is right next to the company’s outdoor furniture store at 408 Payne Road.
“We’re going to join the parking lots to the two buildings,” said Pierce. “It was all about trying to simplify things.”
The warehouse and office remain at 600 Roundwood Drive.
The 600 Roundwood Drive location isn’t particularly visible from the area’s main thoroughfares, whereas 410 Payne Road, a third of a mile away, offers great visibility, Pierce said.
Photo / Courtesy Pierce Furniture
Minimal renovations were needed for the install of Pierce Furniture’s traditional, casual product lines.
“It just made lot of sense for us,” he said. “We’d been trying many years to find a location where we could have the stores side-by-side.”
The couple owns an empty lot next to 410 Payne Road and is considering eventually expanding onto it.
The majority of the inventory is made in the U.S., he added.
The buildings at the 600 Roundwood Drive and 410 Payne Road are about the same size.
Minimal renovations included installing air conditioning, doing over some of the floors, bathrooms and lighting, installing signage and interior painting. The store is open.
The furniture style?
“We really clean-line, quality furniture,” he said. “We tend to be more traditional and casual.”
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