And even though there was never a formal exchange of titles, Pyron said his father’s presence and input was always appreciated.

“It was basically in my hands after about four years of me being back here, but I still depended on him,” Billy said. “Even after that, there was never a day as long as he lived where we were together and I wasn’t bouncing an idea off of him.”

After his father died in 1998, Pyron trekked onward continuing to provide the Miss-Lou with quality home furnishings under the same business philosophy his father established 53 years earlier.

“We still operate to this day with the same philosophy and even accounting credit systems that my dad put in place,” Pyron said. “When computers came around, we didn’t buy them off the shelf and adapt to them, we found something that we could adapt to the system my dad had already established.”

Pyron’s Furniture continued to operate into the new millennium, through a housing crash and an economic recession, all the while with Pyron at the helm.

And despite a global economic decline and more furniture stores popping up across the country, Pyron said the thought of closing the store didn’t even cross his mind until a year ago.

“The business has been good to us, and I’m not doing this because of bad business conditions,” Pyron said. “I would rather leave early than way too late, and I don’t want to be carried out of here.”

Two daughters, three grandchildren and other family decisions are what ultimately led to his decision, Pyron said.

But closing the doors on a business with history and customers that span multiple generations is no easy feat.

“I had a customer call up here the other day and they said, ‘This has been my store for years, I always get all my stuff from here and Mr. Pyron you just can’t do that!’” Pyron said laughing. “That’s one of the hardest parts because you do feel like your abandoning some of your customers, but I’m hoping they understand, and soon I’ll just be a distant memory to them.”

And despite what other companies might do during their closing time, Pyron said Pyron’s Furniture will continue operating and serving its customers for quite some time.

“You can’t just take a 67-year-old business and all of a sudden shut the doors because there’s just too much winding down,” Pyron said. “Pyron’s Furniture will continue to exist indefinitely, and we’re going to maintain a behind the scenes presence for a while.”

The store has begun a retirement or store closing sale in hopes of moving all merchandise out the doors and will continue to operate from 9 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday.