Our Story
Eller & Owens Furniture and Mattress is a family-owned and operated business, founded in the mid-1900s by Clifford James Eller. While the business has evolved and times have changed, our commitment to the values established by C.J. Eller remains steadfast. At Eller & Owens, our mission is simple: to care about each and every person that walks through our doors. To that end, we're dedicated to providing quality pieces and exceptional service to help our visitors fulfill their dreams for their homes. Because for us, it's about more than the furniture that fills your room - it's about the people that gather there.
In 1945, Clifford James Eller founded Eller's General Merchandise in the quiet mountain town of Hayesville, NC. Clifford and his wife Josephine had been directors of the Church of God Home for Children in Cleveland, TN. He also operated a car dealership downtown. When his time with the orphanage was done, he and his wife packed up, and with their toddler daughter Lochie Byrd, moved home to Hayesville (C.J. and Josephine Eller pictured bottom right).
Nestled near the lake, Eller's General Merchandise was a one-stop shop for locals, offering groceries, hardware, feed, clothes, and other goods. Due to his hard work and commitment to excellence, growth came about quickly.
C.J.'s brother, Alvin, operated the "rolling store," a repurposed cargo truck used to deliver goods on the move, particularly to residents unable to leave their homes. For decades, C.J. and his family continued to serve the rural community of Hayesville, treating customers and neighbors with honesty, fairness and respect. These principles helped lay the foundation for a business that would grow to serve families for generations.
Eller's General Merchandise became the first grocery store in the county to provide shopping carts for self-service. While some faithful customers complained about having to get their own groceries off the shelves, progress would not be deterred.
In 1957, C.J. Eller expanded his general store and began selling furniture. C.J would drive a flatbed truck to Cleveland and Chattanooga, TN to pick up furniture from local manufacturers and craftsmen to stock and sell in his growing business.
In 1963, C.J.'s daughter, Lochie Byrd Eller, married Basil Owens after meeting at Lee College in Cleveland, TN. In '64 Basil and Lochie moved back to Hayesville to help C.J. with the family business. Eller's General Merchandise became Eller & Owens General Merchandise.
In 1977, after a long period of declining health, C.J. Eller passed away. Basil and Lochie continued to carry on Clifford's legacy of generosity in service to his community. For over a decade, C.J., Basil and Lochie had ran the family business together. Despite C.J.'s absence, as the sleepy mountain town slowly grew, so did the general store.
By the 1980s, times had begun to rapidly change. Supermarkets and department stores in neighboring towns became increasingly popular and began to force community markets out of business. In August of 1983, foreseeing the change in the landscape of the industry, Basil and Lochie began to transition the general store into a retail furniture store. They sold the original general store, and moved the business to the center of Hayesville. Eller & Owens Discount Furniture was born in December of '83.
As the economy of the 80's boomed and Hayesville's population grew, Eller & Owens Furniture grew with it. By 1986, Eller & Owens Furniture in Hayesville had almost doubled in showroom space. Soon, the search began for property to build a second location. Basil & Lochie bought land south of Franklin, NC in the Otto Community. In 1989, upon property rumored to have hosted President Abraham Lincoln, a second retail location was established.
With hard work, dedication, and a commitment to excellence and customer relationships, Eller & Owens continued to succeed. The Franklin storefront expanded its showroom size in 1993.
In the spring of 1995, Eller & Owens opened its third retail location in Murphy, NC. The Murphy store began in a rented building with three decommissioned 18 wheeler trailers for warehouse storage. This location was founded and managed by the third generation of Eller & Owens, Basil and Lochie's son, Anthony. The Murphy location grew in the same rapid manner as the preceding two. Land was soon purchased and a building constructed.
These three stores, operated by Basil, Lochie, their son, Anthony, and son-in-law, Terry, continued to provide quality products and exceptional service in efforts to help customers fulfill their dreams for their homes. Eller & Owens weathered the fiscal storms of the '08 recession and continued to thrive. This was not simply due to business acumen, but due to our unwavering commitment to the principles that C.J. Eller founded his general store upon in 1945.
In 2017, Eller & Owens Furniture sought to expand again. This time, Eller & Owens returned to its earliest roots, to the city that C.J. Eller bought his first pieces of furniture from for his general store. The fourth Eller & Owens location was opened in Cleveland, TN. Today, Basil and Lochie Owens are (finally) happily retired, and the business is operated by their daughter and son-in-law, Ceylanda and Terry, and their son and daughter-in-law, Anthony and Carla.
