Our History

Braden’s Furniture was founded by McKinley & Mildred Braden on May 1, 1956, in Knoxville, TN. From 1956 to 1992, Braden’s Wholesale Furniture Co., Inc., functioned as a true wholesale furniture distributor, operating a designer showroom in downtown Knoxville and a traveling sales business in seven states selling smaller independent retail furniture stores.

In 1982, the Braden family purchased Fowlers Bros. Furniture Co. of Knoxville and in 1989 opened Knoxville’s largest furniture store at 110,000 square feet on North Peters Road. In 1985, upon returning from a trip to China and Taiwan, Gary Braden started Associated Furniture Importers (AFI), which brought in furniture parts and provided assembly and cartoning in Knoxville, selling to retail dealers, including Sam’s Wholesale, around the southeast. In 1986, Braden’s started a bedding company, “America’s Best Bedding,” also here in Knoxville, manufacturing mattresses and box springs and selling wholesale to retail stores and showrooms. This business was sold in 1992 to a regional bedding competitor. Braden’s also sold Fowlers Furniture in 1992 to Rhodes Furniture Co. and subsequently opened the downtown location to the public for the first time. Carrying lines like Theodore Alexander, Henredon, Century, Drexel Heritage, Stickley and others, Braden’s sold at 40% off MSRP directly to the public. In 2004, the Bradens saw the development of Turkey Creek and opened a Contemporary Store called Braden’s Lifestyles.

This was a great growth period for our company until the two year I-40 road closure in 2007, which caused us to sell our downtown location. In 2009, Braden’s Lifestyles was changed from its contemporary model to a blend of contemporary, traditional, casual and transitional. Braden’s also brought its huge patio and outdoor business, as well as its rug department, to Turkey Creek. Braden’s Lifestyles, voted again as Knoxville’s best furniture store, features Knoxville’s only Stickley gallery, America’s first solid wood and upholstery manufacturer; Ekornes Stressless gallery from Norway, the most comfortable seat in the world; an Eastman House & Aireloom mattress gallery, American Leather, and many more.

Here at Braden’s, we strive to provide supreme quality products at affordable prices. We represent over 200 individual vendors, giving us the unique ability to find the exact style and price point our customers desire. The showroom changes daily, and we are consistently shopping area furniture markets to monitor trends and style, bringing our customers everything from traditional, classic furniture styles to contemporary and modern brands.

We operate under a family name and care greatly for our reputation. That’s why we take customer service very seriously and stand behind our products. We’ve enjoyed many years of making Knoxville houses homes, and we look forward to many more years to come.