text: Whatever Happened to ... Lauer's Furniture stores?
  Lauer's was one of the area's biggest furniture stores during its decades-long run first in Rochester and then in Pittsford.
  The business moved during the Great Depression to a spot near the heart of downtown. That store was eventually forced to relocate due to a massive urban renewal project that, for the most part, eliminated the seedy but colorful Front Street.
  The final store – which had an elaborate fountain and Victorian staircase – ushered in a new development across from Pittsford Plaza known as Pittsford Place.
  Benjamin Lauer founded the business with his sons at 34 South Ave. in 1923. Ads touted low prices made possible by the "out of the high-rent district" location as well as five floors of merchandise like velour parlor suites, reed rockers and mohair living room sets.
  Lauer died in 1929 and his sons, Joseph and Alfred, took over. They moved the store to 50 State St. in 1933, when the Depression was raging.
  Times were tough, as money (and jobs) were hard to come by for many. "The country is at low tide," one Lauer's ad of the era read. "Our judgment decides, 'America will be back.'…We'll stake what we have on the future in one grand bet on America."
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  New furniture might not be a priority for those scraping to get by. Lauer's came up with strategies like taking trade-ins that were "repaired – refinished – sterilized and sold" in the store's bargain basement," along with new goods sold on the main floors. Lauer's also advertised free delivery within 150 miles of Rochester.
  The State Street store kept Lauer's distinctive "grandfather clock sign" that was in use for decades. The business expanded over the years, including in 1960 when Lauer's bought an adjoining building and opened a new warehouse on Canal Street. Joseph Lauer died that same year and other family members took over.
  By then, city planners were already talking about renovating major parts of downtown. Front Street, beside the Genesee River (and featured in an earlier Whatever Happened to…installment), was a particular concern. Lauer's was smack-dab in the middle of the targeted area, but company officials nonetheless gave the store building a facelift with a new storefront of black and gold aluminum.
  "The exterior improvement was the first for any building at the Four Corners (area) since the Front Street improvement plan was announced," a 1961 Democrat and Chronicle story reported. The familiar grandfather clock, "long a symbol of the store," was replaced with a modern clock.
  The development project, which came to be known as the Genesee Crossroads Project, continued moving forward. Lauer's had some 150 employees and officials said they wanted to stay, but that was not to be. The Lauer's building was among more than 100 slated for demolition in the "rundown sector" and mentioned as "probably the biggest…property to be axed."
  Lauer's then moved to a newly developed site at 3300 Monroe Ave. in Pittsford. The grand opening of the 171,000 square foot, white Colonial brick building came in August 1966. The massive property reportedly covered four acres.
  The following year, Lauer's merged with a large Midwestern chain, Biederman's National Stores. Ownership changed hands in the mid-1970s, when Lawrence Bell and John Summers bought the business. By the late '70s and early '80s, plans were announced to move all of the Lauer's operations to the store's second floor and to add specialty shops and more to the first floor. McFarlin's — the longtime men's clothing retailer — opened a shop in the Lauer's building in 1981.
  Things continued until 1993, when the company filed for bankruptcy protection. Amidst financial wrangling and disputes, Summers purchased the assets that year and turned over day-to-day operations to his stepson, Ken Holland. The store was reportedly stocked with new inventory and called "The New Lauer's."
  "We've changed everything but the name," a 1995 ad read. The company introduced new lines of furniture and other home goods, including some by designer Dakota Jackson, whose clients had included John Lennon and fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg.
  Lauer's held tent sales promoting sofas, recliners and dining room- and bedroom sets, and hosted an annual springtime fashion show. The tagline became "At Lauer's, you're home."
  But things were beginning to wind down for the venerable business. Plans were announced in 2004 to close the store by year's end. Lauer's by then reportedly employed 20 people. "We're going to retire the brand name," the store's general manager said in a Democrat and Chronicle story. "The furniture business has been very tough for us for a number of years."
  That was the end of Lauer's, after all those years that included surviving the tumult of the Great Depression and the forced move brought on by urban renewal.