In 1947, Hazel and Roland Troxell started Southern Furniture out of the back of a used station wagon. Roland had quit the insurance business and started his first mercantile route at that time. Soon, he employed other “routemen” to expand his business. He opened an office and very small showroom shortly thereafter in the basement of a store at the corner of Broadway and Rosser. 

After eventually taking over the entire building and expanding, the store became too confined and he relocated Southern Mercantile to another building on Hill Street. At this location, he kept his expanding pace by knocking out a wall whenever the business next door went out or moved. He still maintained his mercantile routes all over East Arkansas.

The business continued to grow and expand. In 1964, he bought land and built a new building on N. Washington Street. This new building was away from the downtown area and was 11,000 square feet on the main floor and about 6,000 upstairs. In 1984 Glenn and Jo Troxell Patterson bought the business from Roland and Hazel. 

Then in 2004, they once again moved north of town to a new 20,000 square foot building all on one level with the warehouse in back. They bought out a competitor in Wynne and opened a new store there in 2010. From these two locations, they continue to operate with the same guiding principles from 1947.