Eric Reingold spends his work week guiding customers through 25,000 square feet of transitional bedroom displays and mid-century modern dinettes.
With the depth and knowledge that come with years of experience, he can easily explain the difference between fabric swatches, suggest a “shaker-style” interior design, or recommend the best place for a sectional sofa in customers’ homes.
These skills come naturally after 17 years of ownership at Endicott Furniture, his family’s brick-and-mortar business that has furnished homes around New Hampshire since its doors opened on Main Street a century ago.
“It’s been passed down from my great-grandfather, to my grandfather, to my father, to me now,” Eric said. “It was always in my blood.”
Reingold’s great-grandfather, Hyman Reingold, established the business in 1925 on the lower level of the historic Endicott Hotel in downtown Concord, the location that became its namesake. With expansion in mind, he relocated the store across the street to its current location in the 1940s.
“We’ve kind of just added stairways, punched through walls and combined buildings, so it’s now just one huge furniture store,” Eric said.
Over the years, ownership passed from one generation of the family to the next: From Hyman to his son Earle Reingold in 1947, and then to his son Mark Reingold in 1984.
Through some of the 20th-century’s most difficult economic times, the family kept the business alive with the support of loyal customers and a commitment to sourcing locally.
“You can buy anything on the internet at any time you want,” Eric said. “And it can be delivered to your doorstep. But we’ve really leaned into supporting local businesses and the local economy.”
As Eric remembers his father explaining, both the economy and the store’s customers have changed dramatically since the doors first opened a century ago. What began as a business predating credit cards and online shopping is now a storefront set in the middle of a modern retail landscape — a transition Eric has taken the lead in managing.
“As a kid, this is where I would go after school. If my dad needed to work or my mom was busy, I would come in,” he said. “My father said he needed a decision whether I was going to go into the business or not. Luckily for him, I was interested.”
After graduating from the University of Mary Washington in Virginia, he returned to Concord in 2008 and the store, continuing the Reingold family legacy as Endicott’s fourth-generation owner.
His father, Mark, remembers handing the baton to Eric as a crucial moment for the business.
“Getting the next generation into the store and getting Eric to come back to work was probably the most important decision that I ever made,” he said. “And I had no idea that I was making it.”
He credited Eric’s contemporary furniture selections for attracting a new generation of buyers and introducing interior design that differed from the traditional, Queen Anne style of the past.
Sleek, straight-edged pieces are in, Eric explained, and ornate, detailed, solid mahogany pieces are out.
This fresh perspective has driven the store’s 21st-century evolution, refocusing its furniture selections to appeal to a younger generation of furniture buyers.
“As Eric started putting his footprint on the business, he brought in stuff that we would never have if I was still in charge here,” Mark Reingold said. “That’s kind of how we got to where we are today.”
The shop has since expanded into nine showrooms with dining sets, bedrooms and living room displays. Historical antiques — including a grandfather clock from 1850, a cash register from 1925 and sepia-print photographs of the business’s past — are featured throughout.
The store remains “one of the oldest retail stores in the city,” Mark said.
With a son of his own, Eric hopes to “pass the mantle on” to a fifth-generation Reingold who will continue the family’s legacy.
“It is pretty amazing that this little store in this little state has been able to survive for a hundred years and take care of four generations,” Mark said. “We’re hopeful that we have the fifth in place with Eric’s son.”
Endicott Furniture is located at 12 S Main St in Concord and is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The store is closed on Sundays.
For more information, visit https://www.endicottfurniture.com/.