About Us

Our Story

Wood’s Furniture - Now Wood’s Mercantile has a long-standing history in Clarkesville, Georgia. It all started in June of 1961 when Hal Woods opened Wood’s on Washington Street in Downtown Clarkesville as a hardware and furniture store. In 1972 the current Wood’s building was constructed and Wood’s moved into its new home. Over the years, Wood’s has been owned by 4 different families. All but one of them had Wood or Woods as a last name.

Kevin Wood has been an entrepreneur all of his working career. Starting his career in his family business, he owned and operated a chain of successful express car washes in Georgia and South Carolina. This business consisted of 7 locations and over 60 employees. In 2017, the family decided to sell that business during a boom of mergers and acquisitions in the car wash industry.

After the sale of the business, Kevin took some time off to travel with his wife and 4 children. At 37 years old and having 4 children 12 and under, he knew he wanted to start or grow another business. He wanted to do something that he felt had a lot of potential. Over the following 12 months he narrowed the list down to 3 opportunities. Commercial real estate broker, open a butcher shop, or purchase Wood’s Furniture. By the end of the summer of 2018 it became clear that all the signs were pointing to Wood’s.

Wood’s Furniture was a staple business in Clarkesville, Georgia and had a great reputation in the community. Having been located in the same building for nearly 50 years it was a little tired and in need of updating. Kevin saw this as an opportunity. “It was really the perfect scenario. The owner wanted to retire and I wanted to buy a great established business I could grow.” Said Kevin Wood. Kevin had never worked in retail or the furniture industry before buying the business. It was a huge learning curve for him and his family. He is very thankful for all of the long-time Wood’s employees who stayed with him. Many of them are still employed by Wood’s today.

After purchasing Wood’s in January 2019, Kevin got right to work. He and his wife Melissa, took the business through a rebranding to update the look and feel of the store. Out of that process Wood’s Mercantile was born. That first year, Kevin was able to increase the inventory of the store and remodel most of the inside of the store. He added new lighting, new floor coverings, and painted most of the interior. After the pandemic he was able to remodel the exterior of the building to give it an updated and elevated look. He purchased a warehouse for the business across the street from the store. The new warehouse was a needed addition especially during the pandemic. It gave Wood’s the ability to buy large quantities of merchandise and be able to have merchandise in stock to deliver to customers fast.

Kevin and the whole Wood’s team pride themselves on giving outstanding customer service. From the moment you walk in the store to delivery to service after the sale. They want to ensure the customer has a positive experience. Stop by today and see that a friendly, small town business is right in your back door.