Schewels Home
Matresses | Furniture | Appliances | Electronics | Lawn & Garden

Schewels Home is headquartered in Lynchburg, Virginia, the central Virginia community where Elias Schewel began the business in 1897 selling picture frames, chair bottoms, and other small furniture items from a horse-drawn wagon. The first permanent location was just a block from the building which now houses Schewels corporate offices as well as the company's oldest retail store.

Schewels was incorporated in 1917. Schewels operated out of a single location for over 30 years, opening its second store in 1930 in Harrisonburg, VA. Growth was conservative for the next 75 years, with 12 stores comprising the chain in 1972. Beginning about that time and continuing into the present, growth became more aggressive, with almost three dozen new locations opening from 1990 until 2001.

Schewels is one of only four furniture retailers in the United States with 100 years of continuous operation under the same name and family management.

Elias Schewel was succeeded by his three sons Abe, Ben, and Ike, who were in turn succeeded by Bert Schewel (Ben's son) and Elliot Schewel (Abe's son.) The fourth generation and present management team includes Marc and Jack Schewel, and Donna Schewel Clark, children of Bert Schewel. Some 90 percent of the 650 people now employed by Schewels serve customers at the store level, with the remainder in support roles at corporate headquarters or at the company's distribution center in Lynchburg.

Over the years, we've grown to 50 locations throughout Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina.

The Schewels Home Difference

When Elias Schewel, a Russian immigrant, began peddling household goods in a horse and buggy in 1897, he could hardly have imagined that his fledgling enterprise would have grown to 50 stores in three states. Today the company he founded is owned and operated by his fourth and fifth generation descendants, Marc Schewel, Jack Schewel and Matt Schewel.

Thanks to our 600 dedicated employees, Schewel Furniture Company is able to continue the long tradition of bringing our customers the quality, service, and values that were the hallmark of our founder's early success.

One of our founder's ideas was to allow customers to pay for their purchases over a period of several months, and today, over 100 years later, Schewel Furniture Company offers a flexible credit plan to suit your budget. Schewel Furniture Company carries all accounts in-house, and you deal only with an experienced credit counselor on-site in each of our stores.

With 50 stores, Schewel Furniture Company’s tremendous buying power enables us to shop globally and bring to all our markets the best in home furnishings values. Operational efficiencies enables us to offer you our products at low, competitive prices.

In addition to home furnishings, every Schewels Home Store carries a full line of mattresses, appliances, electronics, outdoor power equipment, and decorative area rugs.

Schewels Home wants you to be satisfied with your purchase. All home furnishings have a warranty for one year from date of purchase for manufacturers' defects. See store for details.

From "Schewels" to "Schewels Home"

In 2019, Schewels was rebranded under the new name "Schewels Home". Chief Executive Officer Marc Schewel announced:

"A lot of things have changed over 122 years, but what hasn’t is our commitment to go above and beyond for our customers [...]. In order to further enhance that experience, we have decided to become Schewels Home. This change will bring new energy to our stores and new benefits for our customers."

The main customer benefits, according to the release at the time, are lower prices, expanded 0-percent interest financing every day and a $50,000 community investment. The community investment funds will be allocated to each store based on size, and a committee of store employees will help determine what local organizations to support.

“At the same time, we are recommitting to our mission: providing affordable home furnishings and exceptional customer service to generations of families,” also said Jack Schewe.


Although many things have changed over time, our mission has stayed the same: to provide affordable home furnishings and exceptional customer service to generations of families.

Our vision is to be the premier destination for home furnishings in the communities we serve - where everyone wants to shop and everyone wants to work.

We have achieved success over the years by adhering to six core values:

  1. Integrity: Demonstrate honesty, respect and trust in everything we do.
  2. Customer Focus: Go above and beyond to provide an exceptional customer experience.
  3. Family: Treat our customers and employees like family.
  4. Commitment to Employees: Provide employees with opportunities to grow personally and professionally in an enjoyable work environment with great benefits.
  5. Teamwork: Work together for a common goal.
  6. Community: Give back to the communities that have made our business great.