VETERAN OWNED
Red Knight Distribution Center BY TONY CENTONZE
M
ichigan native Dave Berggren, sitting inside his office at Red Knight Distribution, admits he always knew he would own his own business. Over the last 21 years that business has grown to include three retail locations and a warehouse. He now employees more than 100 people in Clarksville. “I was in the Army for 20 years, retiring as a 1st Sergeant,” Berggren said. “I spent my last 7 years at Fort Campbell with the 3rd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, aka The Red Knights.
“I knew I was going to get into some type of business ownership. It ended up being Furniture Connection. We opened our first store in Oak Grove, KY and then another in Clarksville, TN a year later. That was October of 2000. Throughout these years,
I’ve been lucky to have a team of great people who have helped me become successful.”
When the business out grew its warehouse on Fort Campbell Blvd, Berggren built a 60,000 sf facility on International Blvd. There are no plans for expansion at this time, but there is room to grow if the time comes. From that facility, Berggren delivers to his Furniture Connection, and Ashley HomeStore, and Ashley HomeStore Outlet customers.
“We ship everything from the warehouse,” Berggren said. “We have several tractor trailer loads of furniture coming in everyday.
40 • CLARKSVILLE BUSINESS JOURNAL
We currently have a total of 106 people working for us, split evenly between the stores and the warehouse.”
Berggren says that since that first Furniture Connection store in 1999, he has had his share of failures. “We might have learned more from our failures than our successes. This business is probably not as good as people think. That’s why so many furniture stores have gone out of business, even in our own market.”
