Still Famous after 153 Years!

This article with a couple of pics was featured in the paper on Sunday about my family business. At least most of the Boyle Family history is done! LOL!

Boyle: Still going strong after 153 years
By JEFF DEMOSSStandard-Examiner staff

OGDEN -- Few local enterprises in existence today can say that when they started, horse-drawn carts were the preferred mode of transportation.

Such was the case in 1855, when Peter Adams Boyle arrived in a city on the verge of a boom, with the upcoming completion of the nation's first transcontinental railroad.

A business that predates Utah's admission to the United States by 40 years, the modern-day Boyle family enterprise has evolved over more than a century and a half into one of the few successful, independent appliance stores in the area.

"By keeping it in the family and keeping that personal touch, we're the exception that has actually been able to grow," said Jim Boyle, current owner of the business and sixth generation of Boyles in Ogden.

"I remember my grandpa telling me stories he remembered seeing the horses and buggies, and the stables in downtown Ogden where people would park their 'delivery trucks,' " said Boyle, 66.
In its various forms, the company is the oldest continuously operating, Ogden-based business enterprise on record, Jim said.
"We might be the oldest in the state," he said.

Peter Boyle and his son, John Boyle, started the Boyle & Son company in 1862. They initially made and sold coffins, furniture, spinning wheels and sole pegs.

Like many of Ogden's early residents, Peter Boyle was a farmer during the growing season. He turned to the furniture business during the often-lean winter months.

As the furniture business grew, the father and son built what was then one of the city's most prominent buildings at 2460 Washington Blvd., and furniture gradually became a year-round endeavor.

Another iconic family business that thrives today, Lindquist Mortuaries, started in 1867 in Logan. Lindquist, which moved its base to Ogden in 1885, is the only other Ogden-based family business founded before 1870 that is still in operation.

Peter Boyle wasn't the first furniture maker in Ogden. Mathew William Dalton began making furniture in a shop at 24th Street and Grant Avenue in 1851.

But as far as local furniture and appliance companies go, none have a richer history than Boyle.
Remnants of the family's long history include the original Boyle Furniture Co. warehouse at 22nd Street and Wall Avenue, which still bears the company's name.

The family sold the warehouse to the federal government, which refurbished and reopened it as an IRS processing center in 2003.

The water tower that stands today in front of Union Station, as well as the elevators inside, were once part of Boyle's Washington Boulevard operation.

Boyle Furniture Co. has been in several locations, including four different buildings on Washington Boulevard, all between 23rd Street and 28th Street. Jim Boyle, now in his 46th year with the business, acquired all of the company stock in 1976.

In 1981, the business was split. Jim's father Peter moved the furniture business to Harrison Boulevard, while Jim moved the appliance side to 152 36th St., where it has remained until this year.

"He told me I was nuts to do that because the (profit) margins on appliances are so thin," Jim said, "but the furniture business is not there any more, and we're still here."

Boyle Appliance Center just moved into a larger space next door, at 146 36th St. Jim said business has increased tenfold since he took over, and a larger space was badly needed.

The recent slump in homebuilding means Boyle is outfitting fewer new homes with appliances, but Jim said a surge in remodeling has largely taken up the slack.

He said the store recently outfitted Paris Hilton's new condominium in Park City with $200,000 in appliances.

Utah's population growth helps keep business steady, even when the national economy is in downturn, he said.

Despite competition from major retailers like RC Willey, Boyle Appliance has been able to maintain its buying power by joining BrandSource, a buy-in co-op with about 1,900 member retailers that directly negotiates prices with manufacturers.

"They do $11 billion in purchasing a year," Jim said. "Through them, we can buy as good as anybody on the market."

Jim is gradually turning the reins over to son Steve, 35, and daughter Pam, 43, who represent the seventh generation of Boyles in the family business.

Steve said the company may get back into furniture at some point. He said it may add locations along the Wasatch Front, but will remain family-owned.

"A lot of companies get bought out once they start doing really well," he said. "We're keeping it in the family."

Pam jokingly said the longevity of the business is unusual in more than one way.
"We're still about 80 percent family, and we still get along. How many families can say that?"