When Badcock Home Furnishings closed its doors in Zephyrhills last year, it left a void in the community that relied heavily on the hometown business that sold appliances, furniture, and electronics.
Months later, following a lot of soul searching and prayer, store owner John Meseimore and his wife Tammy, are back in the same location on Sixth Street doing what they love by selling and financing home furnishings.
The couple recently opened Hometown Furniture with the same goal in mind as they had with Badcock to sell home furnishings and acquire reasonable financing for customers.
Badcock’s demise came at the hands of Conn’s Furniture of Texas. Conn’s, a 130-year-old company, purchased Badcock Home Furnishing’s in Dec. 2023. Conn’s filed bankruptcy in July of 2024 forcing Meseimore and more than 300 Badcock dealers to close their doors.
“It was a missing piece for the community,” Meseimore said. “We had grown me in here crying. They felt such a relationship with us and they didn’t know where they were going to buy their furniture.
“We developed so many relationships in this community. It is so important. You go into a place like Rooms To Go and they just want to sell you something. They don’t care if you come back. Here, we know you, we know your family. It’s all about community.”
Badcock was always about community. Whether it was helping customers through a tough time or being involved in local programs. For nearly 40 years, the Meseimore family has served the community, and they were destined to keep going.
A group of 26 former Badcock dealers pooled their resources and founded Hometown Furniture. With the combined efforts of the dealers, they have strengthened their buying power to offer better prices to their customers.
The financing model is slightly different than Badcock previous in-house financing and credit limit. Hometown Furniture offers multiple financing options to assist customers with varying levels of credit.
Before the opportunity arose from the combined efforts of the other dealers, Meseimore was looking at other employment options, but everything led him back to being the community’s furniture dealer.