From its original beginnings as a second-hand furniture shop, Star Furniture Co. has grown into a complete home furnishings store, carrying lines for the entire home from leading manufacturers.

Originally opened in 1920 by David Goldhirsh, a native of Austria, the family-owned and operated corporation is now run by the second, third and fourth generations of the family.

In 1907 at the age of 17, Goldhirsh came to New York City with very little money in his pocket and went to work for his mother's brother, Mr. Teichman. While he worked hard at his job in his uncle's bakery, he found it was not very profitable, so he took at job as a bus boy at the Waldorf Astoria.

Tired of struggling in New York and in hopes of making a better living, Goldhirsh joined a friend in Galveston in 1913, and went to work for M.M. Bleich in his supermarket.

A coworker at Bleich's took Goldhirsh to his home, where he rented a room from the coworker's parents. While boarding in the home, he met his future wife, his landlord's daughter. The couple married in 1918.

A very hard worker, Goldhirsh quickly became a favorite of Bleich's. In 1920, when Goldhirsh decided to go into business for himself, Bleich provided financial support.

With Bleich's backing and a $500 loan from the First National Bank, Goldhirsh opened a second-hand furniture store at 414 25th St. in Galveston. It was truly a "mom and pop" business. Goldhirsh, his wife and children all worked in the store, which remained open until 10 p.m. on Saturday.

Around 1930, that location was destroyed by fire. Star Furniture Co. moved around the corner to 2405 Market, which offered the store a much larger space.

Goldhirsh relocated his store once again in 1941, moving across the street to 2424 Market into a three-story building. The building, which belonged to the Texas Cities Gas Co., included an elevator and a place for a delivery truck in the back.

Around this time, better mass production methods were being used by the furniture manufacturers, making it easier for families to have better furniture and more of it. To meet the growing demand, Goldhirsh expanded his offerings at Star Furniture Co. to include appliances such as Gibson electric refrigerators, Emerson radios and Magic Baker and Florence stoves.

During World War II, with his daughter away at college and his son in the Air Corps, Goldhirsh worked at Star Furniture Co. with the help of a small crew and without a vacation until 1946.

In 1944, Goldhirsh's daughter, Frances G., married Marvin Stein. After Stein was discharged from the Air Corps in February 1946, the couple moved to Galveston. Although the couple's original plans were to open an employment agency for returning GIs, Goldhirsh asked Stein to mind the store for him while he and his wife took a much-needed vacation to New York.

When Goldhirsh's time off was extended because of leg surgery, Stein discovered there was plenty to do in the furniture business; one didn't just sit and wait for a customer to come into the store.

During that time, Stein started a new bookkeeping system at Star Furniture Co. He also began buying new brands of merchandise and upgraded the store's inventory. He soon found the business a growing challenge. Today, nearly 60 years later, you will still find Stein working in the family business.

In 1970, Stein purchased the building located between his business and the very prestigious Kaufman and Meyers furniture store, doubling the size of Star Furniture Co. The building's interior and exterior was completely remodeling and a new, modern edifice emerged.

In April 1976, Star Furniture Co. was once again touched by fire. While the building next door was completely destroyed, a fire wall between the two buildings saved the store from burning to the ground. However, both the store and the merchandise were badly damaged by smoke and water.

Stein and his employees went about the business of buying all new merchandise, as well as hammering, painting and doing whatever it took get rid of the smell of smoke and get the store back in shape.

In April 1977, as the rebuilding was nearly complete, a more serious and destructive catastrophe occurred. The very old, multi-story building on the other side of Star Furniture Co., which housed a restaurant, the Seawall Drugstore, a barbershop and The Seawall Hotel, caught fire in the wee hours of April 19.

Notified by the alarm company, Stein rushed to the store. Although it was full of smoke, he was able to get the records out of the safe. The fire completely consumed both buildings.

When the employees, who were unaware of what had taken place while they were asleep, arrived for work the next morning, Stein took them around the corner to the store's warehouse at 24th and Mechanic. They set up shop in the warehouse and never lost a day's work.

Six months after the fire, Stein saw a "for sale" sign across the street from the Rex Café on 37th and Broadway. Looking at the sign and the lot, he decided to buy that location and build a new store.

Architects were employed, plans were drawn and approved and a new era was about to begin. Star Furniture Co. opened its doors in its new home at 3727 Broadway on December 27, 1978.

In that same month, December 1973, and 53 years after his grandfather started Star Furniture Co., Ben Jay Stein joined his father in the family business.

A graduate of the University of Texas, Ben Jay had known that he wanted to be a part of the business from working at the store during his summer vacations.

Jody Stein, Ben Jay's son, is the family's fourth generation to work at Star Furniture Co. Jody is pleased to be able to continue the family's legacy of offering quality furniture at affordable prices.