MONTROSE -- After decades in the Montrose community, Lee's Furniture will soon close its doors.
Jay Reimel owns the store with his brother Craig. They said they're closing up shop because it's time for them and their employees that have been with them for years to retire.
"As they all get older and retire, it takes a lot to replace what they do," Jay Reimel said. "We are getting older, and we didn't want to be here when we were 70, and we're pretty close, and so it's time to retire."
The business started in 1905 in Springville before moving just up the road to downtown Montrose in the 1930s. The Reimels' grandfather started it all. The business has been in the family for three generations.
The Reimels tell Newswatch 16 as soon as they announced the store was closing, they saw even more business coming to the store from their loyal customers.
"I've always enjoyed their products, and I wanted to buy something before they were going out of business," Karen Knapp of Montrose said.
Longtime customers, like Marshall Ayres and his wife, said the service at Lee's is something you can only find in a small community like Montrose.
"You go to the big box places and you get big box service," Ayres said. "You come here and people actually stop, actually talk to you. It's a friendly service."
The employees said they'll miss that kindness, too.
"They're nice people," Lee's Furniture employee Greg Sherman said. "They take care of their employees and give benefits when nobody else does, so it's been great."
As the Reimels prepare to say goodbye to all of the people they've met at their store over the years, they hope their dedication to their customers will always be remembered.
"It's refreshing to know that you can still give the customer a good value and listen to them if they have problems and take care of them, which we've been doing for three generations," Reimel said.
Lee's Furniture will close around Labor Day.