Beginnings
Back in 1932, Rufus Call Willey began selling appliances door-to-door out of the back of his red pickup truck. For 18 years RC, as he was known to friends, built a reputation of integrity, hard work, and satisfying each customer. To guarantee customer satisfaction, he’d lend out refrigerators for a week and promise to take it back free of charge if they didn’t want it—he never had a return. He also established a financing system for local farmers, offering to accept 1/3 payment at the end of each of the next 3 harvests.
In 1950, after increased demand, RC built a 20’ x 30’ cinder block building next to his home in Syracuse, Utah. Two years later, RC’s son-in-law Bill Child began working at the store part-time. RC continued to offer his community great value and customer service until his death in 1954. After his passing, RC’s wife Helen asked Bill to continue to run the business.
Shortly after taking over the business, Bill brought his younger brother Sheldon into the company. For 40 years they worked together to give customers honest value, quality products, and the best prices in town. Soon the little 600 Sq. Ft. building was no longer big enough to accommodate the addition of furniture. Stores were added, 6 in total, all across Utah.
Acquisition
In May of 1995, RC Willey Home Furnishings was sold to Berkshire Hathaway in a deal with Warren Buffett. Speaking of Bill, Buffett said “Child represents the best of America. In matters of family, philanthropy, business, or just plain citizenship, anyone who follows in his footsteps is heading true north… by doing the right things for his customers and associates, he eventually left once-strong competitors in the dust… he just applied the oldest and soundest principle ever set forth: ‘treat the other fellow as you would like to be treated yourself’.”
Continued Growth and Excellence
In February 2001, Scott Hymas was named the Chief Executive Officer, Jeff Child as President, and Curtis Child as Chief Financial Officer. Under their leadership RC Willey has grown across the Western United States and established a growing online presence.
In 1999 RC Willey opened its first location out of Utah in Meridian, Idaho with 2 new locations to follow in Nevada— Henderson in 2001 and Summerlin in 2003.
In 2005, RC Willey opened a 3rd Nevada store in Reno. The next year the company expanded into Northern California with a location in Rocklin. A second Sacramento-area store opened in 2018. Meanwhile in Utah, RC Willey outgrew two locations—the Syracuse and Murray stores and built 150,000 sq. ft. locations in Layton and Draper.
With a firm commitment to our founding principles of integrity, hard work, and satisfying each customer, RC Willey continues to serve customers today with an eye to the future.
