Our History
In 1977, Fred and Gloria Hoechsmann, Employees of Cominco and Crestbrook respectively, began making waterbeds out of their basement in Kimberley, BC, as a hobby. Little did they know that their hobby would turn into a successful career. As word of mouth spread about waterbeds made by Fred, so did their enthusiasm and entrepreneurial spirit.
So when a waterbed store came up for sale in downtown Cranbrook, they decided to take a chance and went into business full time. Soon Northstar Waterbeds - affectionately known as Waterbed Fred's, was a household name in the Cranbrook area.
In the mid 80's, with the waterbed boom on the decline, Fred and Gloria decided to move into other furniture categories besides waterbeds. They renamed themselves to The Bedroom, and expanded into neighboring buildings on their block, tripling their showroom floor to 7500 sq/ft.
The Bedroom continued to expand over the years, converting upstairs loft apartments into an additional upper floor of the store and continuing to expand into the block. The expansions included the introduction of a La-Z-Boy gallery in 2002 and an appliance gallery and stylish Urban Underground in 2017.
In 1992, The Bedroom joined a powerhouse buying group, Dufresne Retail Solutions Group, that allowed independent furniture retailers from across Canada to join forces and combine their purchases. The result was more buying power and larger savings for you!
In 2002, Fred and Gloria's son, Joey, and his wife, Christine, moved to the Kootenays to help run the business. Joey graduated with honours in Marketing & Business from BCIT. He was the president of the BCIT Marketing Association and won the International AMA sales competition in 2002. Christine graduated from UBC with a Bachelor of Science degree. Joey and Christine's positive outlook and high service standards made them a valuable asset to the company.
2007 marked a milestone for The Bedroom Furniture galleries - 30 years in business! This celebration also marked the official passing of the key from Fred and Gloria to Joey and Christine.
The most recent change was the renaming of the Bedroom Furniture Galleries to Hush Home Furnishings in 2023. The renaming accompanied a complete renovation to the front of the store, visually unifying the building the store takes up under one stylish stretch. The upstairs portion of the store was also almost doubled in capacity.
Today, Hush Home Furnishings is over 25,000 sq feet over three floors with dozens of high-quality brands. Taking a walk through the store, you can see the history of the number of buildings that make up Hush. The original 100-year-old boiler still sits impressively in Urban Underground. The upstairs still retains the appearance of the original loft apartments people used to rent. Each building has its own personality.
Despite all the changes over the years, Hush Home Furnshings has still kept its commitment to great owners, an awesome staff, and commitment to outstanding customer service. And, we still carry waterbeds!