Jackson Furniture Co.

Many of the builders of summer homes in Bracken Brae wanted to entertain their friends and family.  No other family was more generous in their entertaining than Leroy and Susie Jackson.  At one time the family owned three cabins in Bracken Brae.

Leroy Jackson was vice-president of the Jackson Furniture Company, which his brother had started.  Jackson’s started as a small carpet store in 1889 but by the 1930’s was the largest retail chain in California.  The Jacksons were famous for their generosity to their employees and their customers.  

Susie was a member of high society and a socialite having come from the Gladding family, who were among the original founders of Oakland. By seventeen she was a famous vocalist and musician.

There are many mentions of her in the papers attending balls and card parties (radio and card parties were huge back then) many of which were held at the cabin.

After the 1906 earthquake, many merchants raised their prices due to the demand for replacement furniture, taking advantage of their customers.  Jackson caused an uproar when he said, “That’s not right. I want to make money … but not that way. We’ll keep our prices just as they were.” 

After a large fire that destroyed 640 homes in Berkeley in 1923, Jackson wiped away the debts of anyone whose home was destroyed in the fire.

By 1960 Jackson’s had locations in Richmond, Vallejo, Berkeley, Walnut Creek, Kaiser Center, a San Francisco Showroom, and two locations in Japan.  This is the headquarters in Oakland.  The building was torn down in 1979.