Windsor is home to Coulter's, "Ontario's largest furniture store" which boasts 80,000 square feet of showroom, a quality stock of North America's best furniture manufacturers, and a colorful history.

Coulter's started as a family business in Essex in1863, when James Coulter started a lumber business and then, after relocating to Windsor, a coal business in hopes of supplying entrepreneurs in Detroit. Later generations of Coulters replaced coal sales with fuel deliveries to business and residential customers in the 1950's when the demand for coal dropped.  Always ahead of marketing trends, Coulter used its location on Windsor Avenue, a block east of Windsor's main thoroughfare Quinlette St,. to open a small retail outlet that sold custom fireplaces, equipment, and screens to the public.  By 1958, Coulter's opened a small showroom of colonial furniture.  The endeavor was so prosperous that Coulter's sold its fuel business and fleet of trucks to Texaco in 1969 - in anticipation that natural gas would overtake the demand for home heating oil.

Coulter's soon expanded their offering beyond colonial furniture but maintained their commitment to only offer the finest brands.  They saw their market as both Canada and nearby Michigan.  As Craig Coulter put it in 2005 "We are able to undercut U.S. prices while offering excellent value. Also, there is no duty, no U.S. tax, no Canadian GST (goods and services tax) nor PST (provincial services tax), so our American customers can buy as much as they want of well-designed, high-quality home furnishings. I sincerely hope the Canadian dollar drops again; a lower dollar is much better for our manufacturing exporters, too. We have delivery trucks in Michigan every day now. We also occasionally export to Europe; we have local customers who have relatives there."

The business includes two locations, both open seven days, and offers design services.  The store guarantees quality, selection, and best prices - a winning combination.

 For more of the fascinating Coulter story, visit their website at www.coulters.com and check out http://www.furninfo.com/absolutenm/templates/Article_Retailing.asp?articleid=5164&zoneid=5 .

Need a house in Windsor to showcase your Coulter bargains?  For information about great places to live in Windsor, call your Prudential Select Real Estate Agent Mark Tesolin at (519) 972-5505 or visit http://marktesolin.com.