Comic store caters to all types 2A Restaurant owners learn to evolve 6A Will it be a Republican come back? 9A
ANDREW MILLER JESSICA HARPER T.W. BUDIG
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DATE ##, 2009 JANUARY 14, 2010
VOLUME 30, NUMBER # VOLUME 30, NUMBER 46
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appyafter 43 years Happy Harry’s Furniture has served generations of loyal customers
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DAKOTA COUNTY TRIBUNE
Furnishing a home is all about finding pieces that offer style, quality and comfort. Selecting a furniture store to assist in making those choices may be as important as choosing the right furnishings. Happy Harry’s Furniture has been serving its broad base of customers for 43 years in Farmington with what it bills as honesty, product quality and exceptional personal service. Harry and Lou Ross opened Happy Harry’s in 1966 because they loved furniture and wanted to open a store. The couple expanded the showroom in 1976 to 12,000 square feet to accommodate more furnishings. Their sons, Jim and Tim Ross, have been coowners of the family business for 14 years a n d r u n a l l
What’s in a name?
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INSIDE BIZ BUZZ SPOTLIGHT
Burnsville couple opens Minnesota’s largest Jazzercise center in Apple Valley to help people get in shape for the new year. LYNDA 3A ISAACS FORUM
DAKOTA COUNTY TRIBUNE
Photo by Kara Hildreth
Jim Ross, owner of Happy Harry’s Furniture in Farmington, is proud to continue running the 43-year family business alongside his brother, Tim, and a loyal staff that keep serving a loyal client base with quality furniture. Ross stands next to two photographs taken of his four children at different ages. aspects of ordering furniture pieces, advertising and attending to customers’ needs. Happy Harry’s employs a loyal team of sales, service and delivery staff members who keep customers happy and coming back. “Our trademark is our honesty, service, quality and our word - doing what we say we are going
to do,� Ross said. “People see us and know we are not a revolving door but the same faces. There is a trust in that because they know us, and we do not work on commission.� Choosing to buy only American-made home furnishings because he believes they are designed and constructed in the See Happy Harry’s, Page 44A
Happy Harry’s Furniture, Highway 3 in Farmington, is open 360 days a year, seven days a week and store hours run from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. Many home furnishing styles are online at www. happyharrysfurniture.com. The business can be reached at (651) 463-7482.
Happy Harry’s Furniture’s name was taken from a nickname Harry Ross got from friends. “My dad was always laughing - he was a happy, jolly guy and they thought it was a good name that would work and it stuck,� his son, Jim Ross, said. “There were those who said it was not as fancy a name as some other furniture places, but it is a name people won’t forget.� When Happy Harry’s Furniture opened in 1964, the business and customer traffic revolved around people buying furniture at Christmas and tax season. Harry thought the business was an ideal match to allow him to take up his favorite hobby - fishing. Years later, the couple bought a cabin up north to head to on the weekends and holidays. Harry and Lou Ross live in Arizona in the winter and Farmington during the summer months. Harry, 84, is enjoying his retirement with his wife, his son said.
DANE SMITH
The average person cannot stop paying bills; federal and state government should not be allowed to either. 4A
BUSINESS 101
RONALD THOMAS
Communities of choice drive new powerful markets and have replaced the traditional communities of class. 5A
CAPITOL COMMERCE
Governor meets with Democrat leaders to talk about the 2010 legislative session and how to address the state def icit. TIM 11A PAWLENTY
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