A ‘lot of history’: Beidelman Furniture customers make last visits to downtown Naperville store

Since announcing its closure on social media earlier this month, customers have been visiting Beidelman Furniture in Naperville for one last purchase or to share their stories of what the 165-year-old store has meant to them.

It’s been a bittersweet time — almost like a wake — that Kate Heitmanek, co-owner of the family-run store, treasures.

“It’s been special just being here,” Heitmanek said of the steady stream of customers dropping by the shop. “All of our old friends, my grandparents’ friends, customers that bought their first set when they got married and then bought things last year to move into Monarch Landing (a senior living community) … we’ve had all these lifelong customers who really are our friends.”

She expects this weekend to be no different as the store prepares to close its doors for good on Wednesday, April 29. The store will be open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily until its closing.

“People have been coming in trying to get one last thing … it’s an overwhelming feeling of gratitude going both ways,” Heitmanek said.

Heitmanek is the fifth generation to work in the store and runs things with her mother, Lana Heitmanek.

“It’s a nice feeling to know we have contributed a lot to Naperville, Lana Heitmanek said.

“At one time, we practically furnished this whole town,” she added, noting there was a time when there were no other furniture stores in the area. “People have been coming in saying my parents or grandparents bought furniture from you. There’s a lot of history.”

The decision to close the store came as the cost of doing business continued to increase. Kate Heitmanek said the store recently saw a jump in property taxes, and pricing from manufacturers continues to change.

"It's really hard for a store that's smaller, like us," she said.

Though the store will be closing, the building will remain as a landmarked structure in Naperville.

In 2024, city council members granted local landmark status to the Biedelman buildings, including the store at 235-239 S. Washington St. It is the only commercial building to receive landmark status from the city.

The three-story Collegiate Gothic-style building was erected in 1928 for Oliver Beidelman, one of the founders of the local YMCA and Lana's grandfather. Her father, Owen "Dutch" Beidelman, also ran the shop and served as a city councilman. A workshop predating the shop faces Jackson Avenue and was used by Fred Long, Oliver Beidelman’s uncle and a local cabinet maker who started the business in the 1860s.

At the time of its landmarking, Kate Heitmanek said the family sought landmark status to be proactive after seeing other historic buildings demolished.

“It’s an iconic building,” said Jane Ory Burke, former board secretary of Naperville Preservation Inc.

Because the larger building originally contained a funeral home and a furniture store when it was built, there are chapel windows on the north end of the Washington Street facade. The building also features the city’s first elevator and was the first retail outlet for Kroehler furniture, which was also manufactured in Naperville.

Though the use of the building will change, the building itself will remain. As a local landmark, any changes must go through the city’s historic preservation process.

“Having the building landmarked is a bit of a comfort,” Lana Heitmanek said, noting that the Beidelman sign is part of the building’s landmark status. “I like the idea that this building is going to be here.”

Preservationists are hopeful, though, that the bricked-in windows on the second and third stories of the building will be restored to their original glory. The original windows remain in storage in the building. While they may not be reused, they provide a good model for what replacement windows should look like, Kate Heitmanek said.

A new buyer will close on the property in May. Heitmanek, however, could not disclose who the buyer is or what they plan to do with the building. But Lana Heitmanek has a suggestion.

“I would prefer if it remained retail,” she said. “I think that would be the best use for this building.”