BADCOCK FURN. FAMILY: The Estate Sale of Maida Badcock Pou

BADCOCK FURNITURE COMPANY: The Estate of Maida Badcock Pou

Mrs. Pou was born at home in Mulberry to the late Wogan and Evelyn Badcock January 15, 1930. She graduated from Mulberry High School, and attended Florida State College. After graduation in 1951, she taught elementary school in Plant City until she became a full-time mother. Over the years she was a Trustee for First United Methodist Church of Plant City, UMC Children's Home in Enterprise, and Florida Southern College in Lakeland. She was married to the late Billy Pou for 52 years. They shared their love of travel with their children and grandchildren. She loved children and made it her mission to give all children a thirst for learning.

From www.Badcock.com/about-us

Henry Stanhope Badcock founded the W.S. Badcock Corporation in 1904. An immigrant from England, Henry founded the first Badcock store in Mulberry, FL.

Henry operated this single store in Mulberry, FL for 16 years until, in 1920, his son Wogan bought the store from his father. Business continued to grow until the land boom/bust of 1929. The depression hit the country hard, and Badcock was no exception. Finding it increasingly difficult to sell the merchandise he had on hand, Wogan began to sell merchandise through consignment at various stores in the area, offering a share of the profits if they sold the merchandise. Wogan also established the idea of the route salesman, who would use small trucks, travelling designated routes, to sell the Badcock merchandise. This laid the groundwork for the dealer model, which is still the foundation of Badcock’s business model. At the same time, Wogan introduced the practice of selling furniture to customers on credit, and collecting on installment accounts from these customers.

Over the years, this consignment model and route sales evolved into the dealer operation that is still active today. These home-furnishing centers would receive and sell merchandise only from Badcock, and these dealers were able to finance their customer accounts with help from the W.S. Badcock Corporation. The principal of easy, fair credit was a novel concept at the time, and Wogan Badcock was a forerunner of the way that most merchandise transactions are handled today.

_________________________________

The early bird gets the Number!

We'll be giving out #s starting at 6:00AM to anyone who'd like to come save a spot in line, and leave for breakfast, etc, and then come back at 7:45 for their #'d spot in line.

______________________________

WARNING (to any potential thieves):

We would rather warn thieves ahead of time and steer them away, than not warn them and have to deal with finding them later.

The house is under video surveillance inside and out. Also, valuables such as fine jewelry have already been, and will be, removed from premises after the close of business each day.