Keyes opened an unfinished furniture store named “University Furniture - Home of Naturwood Products” in Seattle, Washington after W.W.II in 1946. He then came to Sacramento with his family in 1948, and that same year opened the first Naturwood Furniture store at 25th Street and Broadway. The name was selected to reflect the quality of the unfinished wood furniture for sale. As the business flourished, a move was made to a 4,000 square foot space at 4220 Stockton Boulevard, which at the time was Highway 99, a thriving business center of the day. In 1957, Walter Keyes died, leaving his 18 year old son, John to assume the responsibility of managing the business for his mother. It was a tremendous challenge for the young man, but one he relished. He loved the furniture business that had become an indelible part of his life. In December of 1959 John convinced his mother to expand the business again and leased the other half of the building on Stockton Boulevard, making the store a total of 8,000 square feet. Also that same December, the store closed from Christmas until the New Year for John and Virginia Skamnes’ wedding. While on a rare vacation in 1961, the Keyes visited a furniture store just off the freeway in Southern California. Someday, they too would own a large furniture store along a freeway, and they would offer their customers two important things: Integrity and Quality. In July 1972, John and Virginia purchased the building two doors down at 4300 Stockton Boulevard for expansion and installed an updated cabinet shop and state-of-the-art finishing room. Shortly thereafter, the “Nostalgic Furniture Craze” began. John and Virginia took a giant step in 1975 when they bought Naturwood from John’s mother. Two years later after 27 years in the same location, they closed the store at 4220 Stockton Boulevard and opened a 20,000 square foot retail outlet in Rancho Cordova, California. Eighty percent of the new business was generated by selling factory-finished furniture. The remaining furniture was sold “unfinished;” and was either finished by the customers themselves or shipped to 4300 Stockton Boulevard shop for custom finishing. At this point, John had to give up building his own furniture and channel all of his energies into retailing. Business boomed, and in 1979, John cashed in his life insurance policy to purchase three acres of dry rocky land located 1/2 mile west of Hazel Avenue. The land was situated adjacent to Highway 50, and on it Bob and Rose Skamnes (Virginia’s parents) joined John and Virginia to design and build the store John and Virginia had envisioned. In October of 1984 Naturwood opened an impressive 38,000 square foot, two story structure with an immense water wheel flanking its side. A 49,000 square foot addition to the existing 38,000 square foot building was completed in July of 1996 making Naturwood Home Furnishings the largest retail furniture showroom in Northern California. By that time Naturwood no longer carried unfinished furniture. In June 2006 while on an annual fishing trip with business associates and friends, John Keyes suffered a massive heart attack while reeling in a large Tyee – King Salmon. John and Virginia had just started to cutback to part time hours and enjoy taking days off here and there after nearly 50 years of full time meticulous work leading the company to what the greater Sacramento area considers their favorite furniture store. Virginia Keyes and daughter Lisa Keyes continue to play leading roles in the success of Naturwood dedicating themselves to continue the principles of Integrity, Quality and Service with a commitment to their customer relationships and their employee family.
