Owner of Egger’s Furniture to retire after 46 years with nearly 200-year-old business

MIDDLEBORO — Egger’s Furniture has nearly 200 years of history in Middleboro and for the last 46 years has been under the care and ownership of Bob Saquet — who plans to sell the business and retire this fall.

While the store is changing ownership in October, it will remain a furniture retailer as Saquet, 84, looks on to retirement after more than 60 years in the furniture industry — something he said he’s not particularly “looking forward to.”

“Because I've always liked what I do, that's why I didn't retire at 65 like most people normally would. I just enjoy it,” Saquet said.

Before acquiring Egger’s Furniture in 1979, Saquet bounced around a handful of New England furniture companies in the 50s and 60s. By the time he got fired from his fourth industry job, he realized he could run his own business.

“I was working for people that always told me to do stupid things, and I always felt I knew better. So, I figured I’d get the heck out of there and go do it on my own,” Saquet said.

Egger’s Furniture in 1979 was more of a “general store” than a furniture retailer, Saquet said. The original three-story wood frame building on South Main Street was built in 1859. When he bought it, the store had just about everything: Kitchen and laundry appliances, T.V.s and electronics, kitchen wares — and a gift shop with crystal figurines and a tourist-luggage section.

Saquet, a 60-year resident of Mansfield, remembers downtown Middleboro as “an island” of businesses and shops that were part of the only downtown shopping area for miles.

With larger shopping centers a half-hour drive away in Brockton and Dartmouth, Saquet said Middleboro thrived with multiple shops for jewelry, car repair, clothing, furniture — and even a hardware store that sold blacksmithing tools.

By the early 90s, Middleboro started to change. Shop owners retired and a large shopping mall in Taunton, the Silver City Galleria, started pulling business away from the once-bustling shopping center in Middleboro.

The flight of businesses allowed Saquet to expand his own. He bought the vacant lot at 177 Center St. in 1989 where the current Egger’s Furniture stands. He then built a larger building to house the business. However, the expansion came “just in time” for a real estate downturn in 1990, he said.

The business was on the rocks, and Saquet said it was “touch and go” as far as keeping it open. After tumultuous meetings with their banker, Saquet eventually found a way to hang on and continue the business.

“If you want to stay alive, you can't do it on life support,” said Saquet. “You have to have a reason to continue. So we have, over the years, evolved from that general store to what we are today, which is a very high profile decorator furniture store.”

Since the early 90s, the business has morphed into the current model that offers American and Amish-made, high quality, custom, solid-wood construction furniture.

In 2021, the Retailers Association of Massachusetts inducted Egger’s Furniture into the “Retail Hall of Fame”, a distinction for longtime, successful furniture businesses.

Saquet said the founding members of the business, George Soule, first began making furniture in Middleboro in 1832. In the 1930’s, businessman William Egger acquired the store and renamed it. He said Egger’s Furniture stands as one of the oldest furniture businesses in the country.

Saquet attributes his own success to listening to both industry trends — and the customer who just walked through the door.

“I've often told people, we don't sell furniture. We help people buy it,” Saquet said.

He looks at furniture selling as problem-solving; the customer shares their need, and Saquet asks the “right questions” to help them fill it. With his self proclaimed “furniture geek” knowledge he’s gained in the 60 years of being in the business, he employs an investigation-like strategy to find the right-fit.

Outside of the day-to-day furniture business, Saquet retired as the town moderator for Mansfield in 2021, after 34 years of moderating town meetings. He was part of the Moderators Association, where he served as president for one year, and travelled throughout the state to observe and improve moderation in municipal meetings.

He has also been a member of the Middleboro Rotary Club for 45 years, where he moderates candidate-nights for town elections, contributes on team-projects and continues to create the club’s newsletters. In addition, he’s hosted shows with MCCAM for the annual Christmas and Independence Day parades’ community broadcast coverage.

Before he got involved in town and nonprofit work, he initially signed up because he felt confident in public speaking.

“Well someone has to,” said Saquet. “I've just gained the experience and stage presence that I’m not afraid to step in front of a crowd and take control and give orders and directions, and it's a skill I've developed over the years.”

He said some of that confidence comes from his on-stage performances in a number of plays over the years at the Mass Art Center in Mansfield and the Alley Theatre in Middleboro.

Between running a furniture business, serving as moderator, staying involved in the Rotary Club and the occasional theatre production — Saquet said he stays stress-free by focusing on what is in his control.

“Stress is when you have a problem and you dwell on it, and you dwell on it and you worry about it … and you can have a heart attack over it. You don't dwell on a problem — you focus on solutions,” he said.

Now, as he heads into retirement, Saquet’s main problem at hand is what family member or longtime friend he’ll be visiting first. He plans to continue doing broadcasts with MCAMM and hopes to find a “good” part-time job. He said he looks forward to staying involved in the Middleboro Rotary Club and exploring business mentorships with area business associations.

Through it all, one piece of wisdom has kept him on-track in his personal and business goals.

“Don't worry about things, unless worrying will help the situation — that's rule one. Rule two is worrying never helps the situation,” he said.