Badcock Home Furniture & More under new ownership

Published 10:17 am Tuesday, June 28, 2022

Seventeen years ago, Cory Sauer began a journey with Badcock Home Furniture & More with his best friend and business partner, Matt Pridemore. 

Pridemore is a third-generation Badcock store owner and the titled owner of the stores owned by their ownership group. Sauer, originally from Oklahoma, dove into the world of furniture and mattress sales while living in New York. He and Pridemore built a bond while Pridemore was working as a minor league baseball umpire and visiting another friend in Rochester, N.Y. 

Sauer, who was working as a manager at another furniture store at the time, said that he and Pridemore decided to get fully into the business themselves. After a process that took several years, the two men made it happen. They’ve now grown to the point where their ownership group owns 

12 locations throughout Georgia, Alabama and Florida. 

Included in this portfolio of stores is the Badcock Home Furniture & More location in Milledgeville. Sauer himself has even relocated to Milledgeville from Lake Park, Ga. in the past eight months.

Since taking the business over in September 2021, Badcock Milledgeville has undergone what Sauer described as a full renovation of the building. 

“Flooring, paint, design. Everything has just been remodeled and redesigned in there,” he said. 

With the redesign completed, the focus for Sauer and the ownership group has become work within the local community. “We’ve been working with the Milledgeville-Baldwin County Chamber of Commerce and doing events and stuff,” Sauer said “We’ve done our first grill-outs, giveaways and we’ve had a big event at the store with rock painting. So, we’re kind of in our phase of getting into the community a whole lot more and that’s what we love to do.”

The new ownership group has tried to build off the relationship that had been built by the previous ownership over the past 13 years. They’ve done this through various events held at the store and also with the help of social media. Saucer explained that they have layered in on the foundation that was already in place, and put their spin on it and working in different areas of the community.

The Badcock Milledgeville location has been operating since 1987 and as its full name implies, the store doesn’t just sell furniture. 

Sauer said they’re most known for easy financing. 

“It’s something that’s always been, just in-house financing. You can get an easy payment and be able to start building credit,” he said.

The inventory at Badcock Milledgeville includes furniture, whether that’s living rooms, bedrooms, or dining rooms. There are also what Sauer called beautiful high-end mattresses, as well as kids’ furniture. Where the “& more” comes into play is with the fact that Badcock also carries air conditioners, along with appliances, electronics, and even outdoor items and decor.

When customers come in, they are looked at as family, more than just an initial sale, the team at Badcock Milledgeville looks at the long term, and being able to take care of whatever home needs that customers may have in the future.

“We’re focused on the service, focused on taking care of the community. Just making a difference where you’re not just a business selling something, you’re actually giving back to the community that is taking care of you in return,” Saucer said.