After 80 years of business, C’ville furniture business Gilmore, Hamm & Snyder is shutting down this month. Owner Greg Hamm died of cancer earlier this year, and his wife, Ann, just can’t do it alone. Of its history, Annie Johnson writes in today’s Daily Progress:
Gilmore, Hamm & Snyder was created in 1925 when Strothers F. Hamm and William H. Snyder became partners in a furniture business with John Gilmore, who had founded the business in 1902. The company moved to its current location in Seminole Square from the Downtown Mall in 1989, seeking a better space to display furniture.
The store is closed now, but it will reopen on Friday morning, selling off all of their furniture and they close down.
I wonder if there are any future Gilmore, Hamm & Snyders just now starting up, companies that we’ll look back on fondly in 2085, or if the rise of niche megacorporations in the past few decades has made such companies a thing of the past.
I didn’t know Greg well, but I had several positive experiences with his furniture store and spoke with him on several occasions. He, as well as the store, will be missed. Although I can’t afford to purchase many pieces, I am happy with every Stickley piece of furniture we bought. GHS was the only store that sold furniture of this quality, and unfortunately I suspect fine furniture makers are also going out of business. The greater loss may not be known for some time as we enter a generation without the craftspersons who know how to build good furnishings.
It is sad on many levels, not the least concerning the untimely passing of Greg Hamm.
Greg and Ann have been friends since the eighties. Ann and Greg would open up their home for “friends of friends” and anyone that needed a place to go on New Year’s Eve. They were “the real deal”!
I remember meeting Greg’s father at Greg’s fortieth birthday party. George was a great guy and very proud of his son and grandsons.
I have such mixed feelings about Ann’s business decision. She could make SO MUCH $$$ by selling the name, but she just couldn’t do it. She’s thinking with her heart not her head! Like always….
The will be an empty space in Charlottesville for years to come, one that’s not replaceable by a chain store. How ironic is it that Target has arrived the same month that we’ve lost GH&S?!?!!!
There was a great photo op Sat. on the downtown mall. The newsstand had a photo of Ann on the cover of the DP and in the background was the original Gilmore building from 1907. Charlottesville is changing way to fast…and it’s sad for our kids and grandkids not to know her as we did! How many locally owned businesses are left within the city limits? We should make a priority to shop here first!