Red Oaks furniture still a fixture of downtown Long Grove

At the age of 15, Bob Stoll took a summer job at Red Oaks in Long Grove stocking shelves and sweeping floors.

At the time, the business operated as a small gift shop that was in the process of moving into an 1855 farmhouse from a corner store that burned down.

The Buffalo Grove resident and Stevenson High School graduate literally learned the business from the ground up. Now more than 40 years later, Stoll owns and operates Red Oaks furniture store, which has been a part of downtown Long Grove for nearly five decades.

Stoll has been part of tremendous change in the business that has become a staple in the historic downtown.

Becoming a full-time employee in 1972, Stoll took on a variety of jobs including touching up finishes, working on inventory, making deliveries and selling. While taking night classes in accounting, retail management and furniture history, he was even involved in the actual construction of expanding the original farmhouse into the 10-room showcase that operates at 340 Old McHenry Road.

When the original owner, Bob McNitt passed and his wife, Ruth, ran many aspects of the business, Stoll and his wife, Sarah, stepped up to assist. They eventually bought the business in the fall of 1991.

While furniture and shopping trends may have changed over the years, the core values of the business remain the same, Bob Stoll says. "I learned from the previous owner about the value of customer service and making people feel like they are friends of the family when they come in. They're not just people who we want to do business with," said Stoll, 56.

Stoll and his wife, who live in Kenosha County, Wis., say the furniture they carry "is still sophisticated," describing the designs as traditional and more functional than it may have been years ago.

The owners "cherry-pick" from several different manufacturers to create displays that focus, as always, on American made. The store features the Crescent Fine Furniture line in a variety of categories and price points and is the sole Illinois dealer of D.R. Dimes' hand made colonial and English-style reproductions, specializing in Windsor chairs.

Shoppers will also find Wesley Allen iron beds, Butler Specialty small-scale accent furniture and upholstery fabric from Hickory Chair and Highland House.

Bob and Sarah's youngest daughter, Lesley Dinelli, is also involved in merchandising, buying and running the back office. "It's a family business," Bob said.

In addition to changing furniture styles, the owners have also seen shopping trends change in Long Grove.

Bob explains that the town is transitioning from a shopping area that once catered to housewives who had more time to shop during the day. "Long Grove has had to recognize that the demographics have changed. Weekends now are much busier than they once were," Bob said.

The economy has also forced a drop in sales and customers, forcing changes in the way the owners buy their product and how much inventory they have on hand. "The consumer is very, very cautious right now. People are glad to have jobs and are careful in their spending," Bob said. However, he believes consumer confidence is better today than it was a year ago.

And at a time when big box retailers compete for these shoppers, the Stoll's continue to operate on the core values in running the family business.

"Small business is the incubator of our American enterprise," Bob said.