SC Furniture and Mattress

Family-Owned in San Clemente for 60 Years

SC Furniture and Mattress is a family company to its core. While serving in the U.S. Navy in 1943, Richard Ross traveled through the idyllic seaside town of San Clemente. Eleven years after World War II ended, he relocated his family from Minnesota and set up roots in the tiny beach town. In 1957, Richard opened the doors of The Second Hand Store, in a building he constructed in the Los Molinos Business District, where it remains today.

Five years later, his wife Alma and her sister, Elsie, opened The Sleep Shop in downtown San Clemente, where they sold mattresses and new furniture. A few years later, they relocated the business to its permanent home next to The Second Hand Store. When the couple was ready to retire, they passed the business on to their son, Richard Jr. and his wife Nancy.

During their tenure, Richard Jr. and Nancy further expanded the family business. As its success grew, a need for additional space eventually led to a third neighboring building. In 2000, they passed the business on to Richard’s brother, Dale, and his wife, Mary. Today, it’s owned and operated by the founder’s grandson, Eric, and his wife Sophia, making them the third generation of Ross’s to take the reins. “It was my grandpa’s dream to have the business continue in the family,” says Eric Ross proudly. “We’re one of the oldest businesses in town and that drives me to continue the legacy.”

Ross began working in the shop when he was just ten years old, helping his father sweep and accompanying him on deliveries. He acquired the business from his uncle in 2018 and now his three kids help him in the shop, just like he had done more than thirty years ago.

When you step through the doors at SC Furniture and Mattress, the past and present collide. The shop consists of three buildings: one housing a mattress store, another with new furniture, and a third offering secondhand merchandise. Between the three, SC Furniture and Mattress has everything you could possibly need to outfit your home, from brand-new, oversized couches, to rustic centerpieces, and everything in between. “Our hope is to be San Clemente’s go-to place for all your home furnishing needs,” says Ross. “We focus on supplying items at an affordable price and offer personalized service that is being lost in today’s big box store mentality.”

The mattress shop showcases a variety of mattresses and frames, available in all sizes, and ready for pickup or delivery. The furniture business offers customers a curated collection of furniture, lamps, art, and accessories—the style is mostly coastal modern, but it carries mid-century and traditional items as well. Most of the pieces on display are on the smaller side to accommodate condo and apartment dwellers, but can be customized in any size.

The Second Hand Store is located in the original building and is a treasure hunt of hidden gems. It carries retro, revamped pieces of furniture, inexpensive, previously loved items looking to be restored, potted plants, funky signs, an array of books, antiques, appliances, art, and patio furniture. Secondhand inventory is acquired from private parties or from customers trading in old pieces for new ones.

SC Furniture and Mattress is a business that has been sixty years in the making. In a world of online shopping and outlet malls, Ross hopes to maintain a sense of local pride and community through his decades-old business. When you step through the doors, you’re treated like family; the quality service and unique pieces have kept generations of customers coming back time and time again. Sixty years from now, Ross hopes the legacy of his family will continue, and his great-great-grandson will show customers the same quality, value, and customer service as his grandfather did so many years ago.

In honor of his grandfather and all the service men and women in our community, SC Furniture and Mattress is proud to extend its 10% Military Discount to all customers this June. Please stop by and see what’s kept this family tradition in business for generations.