Our History
Dixie Furniture Company was founded in 1946 at 533 King Street by Abe Kirshtein. Abe arrived in Charleston, S.C. in 1920, penniless, and carrying all his worldly possessions in a small suitcase. Three days later he was walking the streets of Charleston with a pack on his back peddling soft goods. He worked long and hard hours and, in just a few years, was able to afford a horse and buggy and finally, a Model T auto to continue his peddling.
In January 1946, he opened a very small furniture store. He would get up at 4.a.m. to load up a truck with deliveries so he could still open the store on time. Very often his wife, Edith, would “mind the store” while Abe was out collecting on accounts and making deliveries.
By 1947 his 3 sons, Sammy, Louis, and Sol, had either finished college or completed military service and joined their parents in the struggling business. In 1948, Dixie Furniture’s first expansion occurred with the move into an adjacent, remodeled, slightly larger building.
The family worked very hard, and the business prospered. A central warehouse was built on Huger Street in downtown Charleston and a second Dixie Furniture opened its doors in 1961 at 5550 Rivers Avenue in North Charleston. Extensive remodeling to both the exterior and interior of the King Street location was completed in 1977.
Over the years, 4 third-generation Kirshtein’s, Jerry, Stanford, Michael, and David, entered the family business, which has now become the largest family operated business in the Tri-County area.
In February 1994 Dixie Furniture’s next expansion occurred outside the Tri-County area into neighboring Colleton County by purchasing the former Hudson’s Furniture Warehouse at 809 North Jefferies Boulevard in Walterboro.
Then in 1999 Dixie Furniture grew once more with Dixie Furniture of Beaufort on Highway 170 in Beaufort, South Carolina.
In 2001 Dixie Furniture & Mattress marked the new millennium with one of their biggest expansions. Dixie bought out the Heilig-Meyers in Walterboro and moved their store into the much larger location just around the corner. Since then Dixie has been selected ‘Best of the Best’ furniture store in Walterboro nearly every year. With their larger and newly decorated showroom, Dixie added many galleries and specialized departments. Dixie Furniture & Mattress has also added a full-scale sleep center featuring mattresses, futons, bunk beds, sleepers and more from the industry’s leading manufacturers.
Since 1946, Dixie has seen and undergone many changes. In 2017 Dixie said good-bye to their flagship location at 527 ½ - 529 King St. in downtown Charleston. Dixie was the very last furniture store standing out of over a dozen furniture stores to call Midtown and Uptown King St. home; a street that many started out on in the early forties. Times change and to keep up with the latest trends Dixie invested in their largest remodeling efforts ever with beautiful and sweeping upgrades to their North Charleston and Walterboro stores adding new facades, interiors, motion galleries and touch screen technology.
Since 1946 Dixie Furniture & Mattress continues to be the Lowcountry’s #1 Furniture Store… big time buying power and discounts with mom and pop values… a simple yet timeless philosophy.
