In 1908 the furniture business of
Rowe and
Rupp was established. There were four partners. They were Frank
Rowe from Ridgeville Corners, Lewis Rupp, and two brothers named Albert and
Edward Rupp. The business was located on North Defiance Street in Archbold
in the building that is now the Locker Room. Their phone number was 136.
In 1910, Albert, Edward and another brother,
Peter Rupp, took over the business and changed the name to
Rupp Furniture and
Undertaking. Peter's salary at that time was $12.50 per week. They all
received their embalming licenses from the Cincinnati College of Embalming.
The Undertaking part of the business continued for another 20 years. They
stored the caskets on the second floor of the current Sky Bank.
By 1930, the store's name had changed to
Rupp Furniture Company. It had also moved to what is now the Lauber
Clothing Store building. David P. Rupp, Sr. was offered a job at Rupp
Furniture by Ed Rupp in 1935. He was just out of high school and his
responsibilities were sales, deliveries and janitorial duties. He also
went to school and earned his mortician's license, but he never actually used
it. At that time, Rupp Furniture had three stores. They were located
in Archbold, Wauseon, and Ridgeville Corners.
In 1946, Peter Rupp's son, Paul E. (Bud) Rupp
became a partner with Dave Rupp, Sr. and Pete. He continued in the
business for ten years and then left to begin his own floor covering business on
the west side of Archbold. In 1953, they purchased the building at their
present location in Archbold. It was called the old Lauber Mercantile
Building. This building had been built by Henry Winzeler in 1925.
When Lauber Mercantile closed, the building was bought by Clarence Wyse and the
back and second floor were rented to Lauber Manufacturing. Toledo Edison
and Archbold Dry Goods had offices in the front part of the first floor.
When Rupp Furniture bought the building, Lauber Manufacturing then built a new
plant off Stryker Street.
After remodeling, they had a grand opening in
August of 1953. Over the next 20 years, there were many changes. In
the beginning, the business sold furniture and area rugs. Over the
years, the list grew to include carpet, accessories, appliances, and even TV's.
Dave Rupp remembers that the Archbold store was the first business to sell
television sets. One was displayed in the front window, and turned on at
night so people could watch. Eventually, it had to be turned off to avoid
the danger of a crowd breaking the glass.
In 1959, Peter sold his interest to his son,
William G. Rupp, who had just returned from the Navy. It was during the
1960's that Rupp Furniture added a third floor to the building. This made
it the only business in Archbold with three floors of retail space.
Over the years, Rupp Furniture had stores in
many locations. In addition to Archbold, Ridgeville Corners, and Wauseon,
these stores were located in Stryker, Hicksville, Napoleon (about 1964) and
Bryan. The Bryan store, which was purchased in 1978 from Huenefeld
Furniture, is still in operation today. Two new partners joined the
business in 1972. Dave Rupp's son Anthony, bought 1/2 of his shares, and
Timothy Rupp, William G. Rupp's nephew, purchased 1/2 of his shares. After
50 years in the business (1935-1985), David P. Rupp, Sr., retired. He sold
his share to his youngest son, Phillip N. Rupp, in 1986. As of 2003, the
current owners of the business are: William G. Rupp, Anthony J. Rupp, Timothy
Rupp, and Phillip N. Rupp. The name of the business is now
RUPP FURNITURE
& CARPET COMPANY, and their phone number has changed to 10 digits
(419-446-2551).