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HISTORY
Bruce V. Smith, Inc. (doing business as Smith Village) has been in retailing at the same location since 1932. Begun by Bruce V. smith (1907-1981) and his wife, Ethel R. Glatfelter Smith (1907-1994), as a gas station and general store, Bruce began expanding into many other types of retail sales, including autos, LP gas (propane), appliances, a diner, a grocery store, and roadside cabins.
During World War II, due to the shortage of autos and appliances, furniture became a major part of Bruce's business.
In 1949,the furniture, appliance and grocery business was incorporated as Bruce V. Smith, Inc., and the car business was incorporated as Bruce V. Smith Auto Co. The LP Gas business, in 1952 was incorporated as Smith's Gas Service, Inc., today doing business as Holidaygas. Additional lines of merchandise were added over the years, including housewares, hardware, jewelry, clothing, toys and sporting goods. A complete appliance service department was developed to service all products sold, and to maintain customer loyalty. Bruce Smith was always very forward-thinking when it came to providing service and benefits to his customers. He constantly worked towards his goal of providing "one-stop shopping "long before shopping centers became popular.
As a further step in providing the services that customers wanted, Smith's Pay Plan, Inc. was established in 1954 to extend credit to customers without involving a bank or outside finance company. Although the concept of full-service (30-day, revolving and installment) "in-house credit" was somewhat new at the time, it did help to maintain customer loyalty, and continues to perform the same function today.
In February 1958, a disastrous fire destroyed the main store and office complex. By August of 1958, the present store was completed and in operation. Soon, the name "Smith Village" was being used to denote the entire group of enterprises and to promote the idea of a one-stop shopping center.
In the early 1960s, Bruce Smith began to relinquish the operation of the business to his two older sons, Donald L. and Dale V. Smith. By the mid-1960s, the entire complex was under their direction. Bruce's other children, Anna Mae, Susan and Dallas, also soon took their places in the daily operation and management of the business.
In 1966, DADDS Corp, (Donald, Anna Mae, Dale, Dallas, Susan) was formed as a real estate holding company from which the other corporations (Bruce V. Smith, Inc. & Smith Village Service, Inc.) rent building space. DADDS Corp. also own and rents homes and apartments to private residents. As competition in the area changed, so did Smith Village. The biggest change was the elimination of several marginal departments in 1977. Most of these departments actually showed steady sales gains, but not enough to keep pace with increasing direct costs. The merchandise in the housewares, toys, clothing, jewelry and sporting goods departments was eliminated and the space from these areas was used to expand the more profitable furniture, floor coverings, appliances, and TV departments.
A major renovation of the interior of the main store was completed in 1984. At the same time, the hardware department was eliminated, and replaced with a furniture Clearance Center & Outlet.
In 1985, the outdated grocery store was torn down and replaced with a strip of retail shops called Olde Village Square East, and anchored with a large Rutter's Farm Store.
Bruce V. Smith Auto Co., relinquished its American Motors franchise in 1985 in order to expand its business in recreational vehicles. After adopting the name "Smith Village RV Travel Center", the outside RV display area was greatly expanded and the building was given a face lift. This enterprise then offered a complete range of RVs, from truck caps to motorhomes and RV parts and accessories. Then in 1991, the motorhome and travel trailer lines were dropped and the name changed to Smith Village RV Center, which carried a large line of truck campers and pop-up campers, truck caps, utility an concession trailers and RV parts and accessories.
In the fall of 1987, a second furniture and appliance store was opened at Valley Green Mall (in Etters, Pennsylvania), to expand into the growing markets in northern York County and Cumberland County.
In January 1988, all of our service departments (electric & gas appliances, electronics, and autos, trucks & recreational vehicles) were consolidated under one roof to realize greater efficiencies and to offer more services to our customers. This combined service center is located in the enlarged Holidaygas building at the north end of Jacobus, and operates under the name of Smith Village Service.
The Valley Green Mall store was closed in February 1991 due to disappointing sales. Smith's Gas Service, Inc., and Bruce V. Smith Auto Co. were merged as of July 1, 1991 to become Smith Village Service, Inc.
Late 1995, the Clearance Center & Outlet was moved from the south wing of the main store to the previous RV Center building across the street, to have a better showroom for the outlet merchandise.
March 1996, the Smith Village Coffee Shop was discontinued and remodeled along with the south wing of the store, which previously housed the Clearance Center, to accommodate our new Home Cinema Showcase--which was dedicated to home theater--both furniture and electronics.
October 1998, we announced that we will be expanding our furniture displays to provide our customers with the best furniture selection in this area, including a La-Z-Boy Gallery.
At the same time, we had a close-out sale of all appliances and electronics, which were no longer profitable departments. In order to assure continued service to our appliance customers, we arranged to transfer our appliance service business to Worden & Shewell, a 51-year old, locally owned service business.
Mid-1999, we put a modern facade on the main furniture store building. At the same time, we remodeled the inside to accommodate the La-Z-Boy Gallery. A Garden Cafe was added on the second floor to give our customers a place to sit and have a complimentary cup of coffee, cold drinks, and snacks, while visiting the store. We also added a Kids Kastle in this same area for the children to have a place to play while their parents shop.
Overall, the Smith Village complex has grown slowly but steadily, with many changes, since its beginning in the 1930s. For the foreseeable future, continued solid growth is projected in all areas of our business.
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