The Fenton MacLaren Story
Our family has enjoyed helping customers furnish their homes for 39 years
Brothers Scott Fenton Parker and Keith MacLaren Parker have been business partners for as long as they can remember. They sold garden seeds door-to-door, painted curb numbers and shared paper routes – all before the age of twelve. In 1982 they founded Fenton MacLaren. They were working their way through UC Berkeley, so running a store together was ideal – one brother could go to class while the other managed the store. The original store was on College Avenue in Rockridge and sold only 20’s era vintage furniture.
Just like its owners, the business has grown and evolved over the years – Fenton MacLaren now features solidly constructed new furniture, in a variety of styles. It was a natural progression. For the first several years, Fenton MacLaren only featured vintage furniture. Keith and Scott would travel back east, buy truckloads of beautiful old pieces and then fully restore them. In the process they became experts on furniture construction. They learned exactly what to look for to judge the quality of a piece of furniture.
Quality & Value
Using this knowledge, in the late 80’s Keith & Scott began buying a few lines of newly made furniture that met their criteria of being solidly constructed and fairly priced. They started with unfinished solid pine furniture. Customer response was extremely positive, so they continued to add new furniture lines. Now Fenton MacLaren features a wide variety of new furniture, including beautiful Amish made furniture, upholstered sofas and chairs, and a huge selection of bookcases.
Although Fenton MacLaren no longer sells vintage furniture, Keith & Scott’s many years of experience in furniture restoration have given them the expertise needed to select new furniture that offers the best combination of quality and value. They aren’t in the business of selling “disposable” furniture – they want their customers to be happy with their purchases for years to come.
Keith and Scott are still hands-on owners (who don’t have to leave for classes anymore!) and their wives Kathy and Mara Lee have joined them in the business. This family business has thrived for 38 years because of the Parkers’ personal commitment to customer service. They strive to make furniture shopping a pleasure and will do all they can to create a satisfied customer.