As a little girl, Jill O’Brien loved nothing more than running up and down the aisles of her family’s furniture store.
“Simonet’s Furniture is a sixth-generation shop, and my grandfather ran it for most of my childhood,” she says.
Jill would visit him in downtown Stillwater with a smile on her face and excitement in her heart.
“I knew if I was going to Simonet’s I would be getting gumballs from the machine my grandfather had on the desk,” she says. “Right when I walked through those doors, I could hear his coins jingling in his pockets. I would run up to him and he would give me a few pennies for the machine.”
Now as a mother with two children of her own, Jill manages the store with her father, Mike O’Brien.
“My grandfather passed away in 2011, but his legacy lives on,” she says. “The gumball machine currently resides in my dining room and the memories make me so happy.”
Jill continues, “It’s fun too because now my own children run around Simonet’s, finding good hiding spots and making their own memories. This place has always been in our family and is just called the store. If a family member says they are going to the store, we know where that is.”
Simonet’s Furniture opened in 1864 and offered funeral services.
“The funeral home is still in operation but has been sold,” Jill explains. “The family originally made caskets and it naturally evolved into furniture too.”
Simonet’s now strictly sells authentic Amish and American-made furniture for all occasions and spaces.
Jill’s father took ownership of the store in 2009. His desire for quality brought him to sell Amish handmade furniture.
“We’ve always had American-made furniture and the lines that we've carried have evolved over time,” Jill says. “When my dad brought in Amish pieces, it was an instant success. People want quality products that are made to last, and this is what we are known for.”
The authentic Amish-made furniture is handcrafted using maple, cherry, walnut, oak and other fine, durable wood. The quality is in the fine details and each piece is created by genuine Amish craftsmen.
Jill started working at the store in 2017 after a career in sales.
“I went to school for marketing and love working for our family business,” she says. “Our store has been around for a long time through the support from our community. It’s nice to be able to keep it going for my grandpa and ancestors.”
Along with the Amish items, Simonet’s carries a variety of upholstered furniture for living rooms, bedrooms, offices, dining and more. Customers can choose to style any upholstered item themselves by picking out the color, fabric and sizing for no extra charge.
“We are here to help our customers find the right piece for them and their needs,” Jill says. “We do white glove delivery as well. This means we deliver it to your home and place it where you want the piece in your room.”
Simonet’s offers 0% financing for 12 months to help everyone come home with their new favorite furnishing.
“At the end of the day, we are a local community store where we live,” Jill says. “We want to help our community members and our customers however we can. We will always provide great service, genuine care and a family-friendly environment.”
5745 Memorial Ave., Stillwater, MN. (651) 439-2110. simonetfurniture.com.
"We are here to help our customers find the right piece for them and their needs."