Pucci’s Carpet One, Furniture and Bedding traces its origins back to the year 1972. But to understand how Puccis got off the ground you have to go back a couple more years to 1970 when Ron Pucci and his father Carl Pucci started a business at the corner of Main Street and Chestnut Street in Fredonia N.Y. A t that time Ron was splitting time working midnights at Alleghany Ludlum Steel in Dunkirk NY and working at the West Hill Delicatessen.
That year, the Puccis were in the process of carpeting the apartments above the Delicatessen. Ron decided to ask his friend Bob Rhinehart, who was a carpet installer, where to buy his new carpet. Ron was a young entrepenuer with little money and had just recently had his second child. He was looking to save some money. Ron researched and found that if he had a business certificate and a tax ID number he could buy his carpet at wholesale. So in an attempt to buy carpet at wholesale prices Ron took is tax ID number from the delicateen and formed a business on paper. That business was Pucci Carpets.
At that time, Ron would drive up to the Buffalo market to pick up fresh fruits and vegetables. On the way back he stopped at Stuart Lehrman, which was a carpet distributer in Buffalo. The distributer questioned Ron as a practicing retailer but eventually let him buy the carpets. This is where the story changes Rons life forever. As Ron is walking out the door, He hears the man behind the counter yell" Hey wait a minute". Ron thought to himself "Oh Oh" I almost had it….they must have figured me out." The guy walks over and says " You can’t just buy these rolls without taking the samples that go with them." Well Ron was relieved to still be able to buy the carpets but not so thrilled to buy samples with a $75 ticket to them, but he figured what he had saved on the carpet he would buy the samples just to appease the distributer. So with his Carpet rolls and samples in route Ron made his way back to Fredonia. When he got back, He unloaded his vegetables and fruits to the delicateesessn. He then went back the truck and looked at the carpet samples . Ron thought " What am I going to do with these things?" So he took them out and put threw them in front of the meat counter just to get them out of the way. In Ron’s haste he left to install the carpets leaving the samples at the delicatessen. Over the next couple days customers would come in and question about the samples. Over the period of the next week, Ron started selling more carpet then lunchmeat!
Ron took a chance at his start-up business in the fall of 1972 and Pucci’s World of Carpet was born. Ron put in his resignation at the steel plant and opened his new business just down the street from the delicatessen at 50 West Main Street. Soon thereafter Ron’s wife Michelene, formerly a school teacher, joined the business and Pucci's expanded into furniture and bedding. Michelene was instrumental in building the business to what is today.
Michelene’s decorating touch helped The business grow at that location for the next 10 years until the couple decided to make a move to their current location at 112 West Main Street. They then renovated what was an 30,000 sq ft old warehouse seed building and turned it into a showroom for home furnishings. The new building would also be a new home to other new home-related business tenants. Since then Pucci’s has grown at its present location to be the leader in home furnishings in the area. Many renovations have taken place, additions have been built, walls torn down and relationships made.
Michael Pucci joined the family business in the early 90’s after he graduated from Canisius College in 1992. With Michael in place Puccis took strides to become a more well rounded store with a large surge in inventory and the expansion of product line and marketing. In the mid 1990’s Pucci’s joined the nation’s largest buying groups in both furniture and flooring. Taking the business to another level through national buying power, Pucci’s aligned with buying groups Furniture First and Carpet One. Puccis also made alliances getting into the bedding business with the top bedding companies in the country. Sealy, Simmons and Tempurepedic are all product mainstays in the sleep shop department. Puccis is also western NYs supplier of 1-800-Mattresses. The business soon became "Pucci’s Carpet One", Furniture and Bedding" and encompassed a wide variety of selection and choices.
Todd Schafer joined the team in late 90’s and took over commercial flooring sales at the store. Todd grew the business with outside sales. Todd expanded the business in servicing the commercial field. Todd currently services the areas of Erie, Buffalo, Jamestown and everywhere else in between. Todd is also our expert of technology as our IT director.
Ray Grant moved to Fredonia in the fall of 1999. Ray specializes in measurements and flooring sales. With the addition of Ray, Puccis added a knowlegdable asset and is the equisential sales professional. Ray is the flooring manager at Puccis and is the expert on residential measurements.
Chris Kennedy is our long time bookkeeper and problem solver. Chris crosses the t and dots the I’s and makes sure everyone else does too. Chris’s tireless work ethic is a large reason Pucci’s is so successful.
Donna Frost and Robin Frazita are our skilled sales professionals. Both are great assets to the sales floor.
Jim Schofield and Chad Fiebelcorn are the warehouse managers.
Pucci’s feels very comfortable that product for producer Pucci’s has the best product mix and prices in and out of the community. Ron was quoted as saying "Our goal has always been to offer the best available product at the best possible price to the Dunkirk/Fredonia community and the surrounding areas." Over the last 37 years plus, Pucci’s has seen a lot of changes and expects to see a lot more during the next 37 years. Pucci’s continues to look for ways to save our customers money and provide them hometown service that you can count on and trust. Pucci’s has had top-notch employees over the years, top-notch suppliers but most of all top-notch customers. We are proud to be Northern Chautauqua County’s leader in home furnishings.
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| Brands We Carry: Carpetone, England, Ashley, Lane, Best Home Furnishings, Craftmaster Furniture, Coaster, Riverside, Universal Furniture, Stanley Furniture, Aspenhome, Peters-Revington / Chromcraft, Vaughan, Bassett, New Energy Beds, Steinworld, Hillsdale Furniture, Atlantic Frame, Leggett & Platt, Fashion Bed Group, Magnussen Home, Howard Miller, Sealy, Simmons, Serta, Tempur-Pedic, Corsicana | ||||||||||
