Gainesville's Most Successful Furniture Store
Cox Furniture Co was started in 1917 when Daniel Richard Cox bought out Gainesville Furniture Co and renamed the company. The 1938 Gainesville fire destroyed the original site of Cox Furniture and the Cox family decided to move the company’s headquarters into the New Baird Theatre, a brick building built in 1890 previously home to several different opera houses.
Cox Furniture was a family-owned and operated business. Daniel Cox, his son John O’Neal Cox Sr, and his grandson Richard E Cox managed the entire operation. For several decades Cox Furniture was the largest furniture store in Gainesville, serving both the residents of Gainesville and nearby towns Ocala and Lake City. It continued to expand across northern and central Florida over the years and, eventually, Cox Furniture had retail locations in several cities throughout Florida including Cross City, Orlando, and Tallahassee.
In 1991, when there were over 30 furniture stores in the area, Cox Furniture closed its doors. Due to a combination of increased competition and the widespread availability of cheaper furniture Cox became less profitable and, after 74 years of serving Gainesville and cities around Florida, the company went out of business. The buildings that housed Cox Furniture, on 602 S Main Street and 19 SE First Ave, are both on the National Register of Historic Places.
