Riley’s celebrates 30 years in business in Millerton

MILLERTON — Though the national economy is still struggling to recover from years of recession, some local business have managed to not only survive, but thrive. Riley’s Furniture and Flooring has, in fact, been serving the Tri-state region for three decades. It’s celebrating that milestone this year.

Tom Riley purchased Bloch’s Furniture in September of 1985; he’s since seen the business grow into what it is today. That purchase was made after he spent 28 years working at Bloch’s.

A family-run business, Riley’s has called three different locations home during its 30 years in operation. Its original location was where Little Gates Wine Merchants now is on Main Street in Millerton. It  then moved across the street to where the Millerton Antiques Center is. Finally, after moving back to the Little Gates location, it moved to the Grand Union plaza on Route 44 on the Millerton/North East border.

“Once we moved up here, because of the fact that we could display our furniture so much better, business increased dramatically,” said Riley.

Riley’s offers complete home furnishings for the bedroom, living room, dining room, kitchen and patio, as well as a full line of flooring and bedding. But it’s the fact that his family is working by his side that Riley said is most important.

“The thing I like best is that it’s been a family business ever since I bought it,” he said. “Brian is our top salesman and joined when I bought the business, and Jeff and Greg came into the business when they were in high school. Jeff is our floor installer and Greg and Brian are in sales. My daughter, Cindy Dunleavy, worked for me for 28 years.”

In total Riley’s has seven full-time employees. Last year Tom’s wife, Louise, joined the staff. She’s in charge of operations.

“It’s been wonderful,” said Brian. “It’s very rewarding. Everybody on the street is always talking to each other and we provide a service to everybody locally and beyond. But the biggest local benefit is that we have a close rapport with our customers.”

In fact, Riley’s serves not only Dutchess County but Columbia County, Litchfield County, the Berkshires, New Jersey and even New York City.

“Because of weekenders, people have become customers in their weekend homes and then ask if we could deliver to them in the city,” said Tom.

And Riley’s does more than just sell furniture and flooring. The business has been known to donate new and used goods and services to those in need.

“We like to help out people in their times of need,” said Brian. “We recently helped a family who lost their home; they lost everything. It meant the world to them and we felt good knowing we were really helping somebody.”

“We also donated to a family of Iraqi refugees recently that came into Torrington; we donated beds to that family,” said Louise.

To celebrate their customers and the community, Riley’s is going to have an anniversary sale and party the weekend leading up to Columbus Day. The party will be on Saturday, Oct. 10, at the store.

Brian said as they celebrate their accomplishments he hopes those in the community take a moment to recognize that the store is a handy local resource.

“We’re constantly changing, evolving,” he said. “We used to sell traditional, now we’re more contemporary. We’re always growing with the trends of the industry.”

One challenge has been keeping up with social media to attract new customers.

“Over the years we’ve had a very loyal following,” said Louise, “but getting on social media is very important.”

As Riley’s strives to keep up with the 21st century it will continue to serve those who rely on its expertise, inventory and customer service. 

To reach Riley’s, located at 122 Route 44, Millerton, call 518-789-4641.