Honquest Furniture Unveils Scenic Showroom in Soft Opening Friday

What started in 1960 as a drapery-making operation in the back of Richard Honquest's station wagon has transformed into a 60,000-square-foot furniture superpower in Barrington, IL and now a beautiful new furniture store on Silver Spring Drive.

Honquest Furniture for Living opens Friday at 133 E. Silver Spring Drive, which has been vacant since Peabody's Interiors relocated to Brown Deer. Honquest is planning a grand opening in the early spring.

Despite the down economy, Honquest said he is expanding to a new Milwaukee market to fill a gap in the marketplace. And, with more than 50 years in the industry, Honquest has established his own niche.

"It's all about quality, value and style," said Lori Stengren, Honquest's vice president of sales and marketing. "Because of the number of years Mr. Honquest has been in this business and the relationship that we have with manufacturers, we buy at a very good price, and we pass that directly on to the consumer."

Among the store's featured brands are Pearson, Hancock & Moore, Lee, Century, Hickory Chair, Wright Table and Sligh. Additionally, the company offers interior design service, window treatments, oriental rugs and Shifman hand-made mattresses.

"While we offer quality furniture, home accessories and offer professional design service, selling style is our primary function," Honquest said.

Upon entering the space, you are greeted by 9,100 square feet of showroom —living room sets, dining room designs and individual furnishings – as well as a design center, where interior designers can help you find fabrics and design schemes that work best in your home. On the lower level you will find high-end and low-priced furniture items, as well as other accessories for the home, all on clearance.

The lower level is also physically divided by distinct themes — entertainment rooms, children's bedrooms and lounge areas — to give customers ideas for how to design similar spaces in their home or find complementing designs for items they already own.

"We've always had success in creating smaller vignettes, so as a consumer walks through the store they can envision the product in their own home," Stengren said.

For Honquest, it has been a long, rewarding journey over the past 50 years. After renting a space in Addison, IL. for 16 years, he rented an old ice house in Barrington for seven years before building his first store in 1983, and making additions in 1987 and 1993. The store employs 55 people. So far, the Whitefish Bay store employs seven people, all from Wisconsin.

Honquest said he was introduced to Whitefish Bay, and the old Peabody's space in particular, because he was friends with Peabody owners Gail and Larry Homuth. When Peabody's moved to Brown Deer, he and Stengren took a trip and instantly made up their mind to open a store here.

"I decided to come up here, and I fell in love with it," Honquest said. "We have had such a warm reception. It's a wonderful atmosphere."

Honquest said he expects to start small with a soft opening Friday, but eventually he hopes to spread the customer base, through word of mouth, from Door County to Lake Geneva.

In a down economy, Honquest said he is not reluctant to expand his business to new territory. On the contrary, he said — Honquest is "expanding to survive."

"You can't be sitting and waiting for the world to change to accommodate your needs," he said. "Things are going to change, and you have to figure out how you are going to change with them."

The store is open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and is closed on Sunday. For more information, call (414) 988-4078 or visit the company's website.