Family, furniture and hard work: The legacy of the Wilbur Murray family lives on at Murray's Furniture and Ashley in Hood River

Aric and Christine Brandt with their sons Benjamin and Odin at Ashley Furniture in the Heights in Hood River. Christine is the third generation to be operating stores for the Murray family which got its start in Hood River in 1961 when Christine’s grandparents Wilbur and Betty Murray started an auction yard at the corner of Forden Road and Belmont Drive.

By Tom Peterson

Christine Brandt remembers going to work with her dad Gary Borton when she was a child. 

The 33-year-old said they would drive to Murray’s Trading Post in Odell in the late 1990s, and he would make her an offer. 

He would pay her 5 cents for every piece of furniture she dusted and $1 for every end table she put together. She spent hours in that store making a nickel a dresser.

That work ethic has paid off.

She is now part of the third generation, the granddaughter of Wilbur Murray, and she and her family run two furniture stores - Murrays Furniture, 981 Tucker Road and Ashley Furniture, 1105 Tucker Road.

Sometimes people get confused, believing the stores are owned by two different entities. Or that they are competitors.

Not the case. 

The Murray family owns both and operates both and has a single delivery crew offering free delivery in Hood River, the Upper Valley, and The Dalles. And salespeople do not get commissions on furniture sold. Meaning, customers get the right furniture and none of the pressure. 

Here’s a little inside look at some of the comforts Christine and Aric have put together at the store to inspire shoppers who are decorating their homes.

Last week, Christine and her Husband Aric Brandt were busy working in the family-owned Ashley Furniture store at 1105 Tucker Road. Her two boys, Benjamin and Odin were, like her as a kid, in the store and seeing the business first hand. 

She said the success of the business has relied on family. Her Uncle Greg Murray was down the street at Murray’s Furniture with his daughter-in-law Sarah Leiblein. And Christine’s brother Jason Borton was managing the furniture warehouse on Belmont Drive. 

“It’s a family affair. It’s always been that way,” Christine said repeating the words her mom, Kit, told her years ago.

But it has not always been about furniture

You may know about Murray’s Furniture. 

But did you know that it didn’t start that way?

In 1961 - 62 years ago - Wilbur Murray and his wife Betty started with a cattle and farm equipment auction yard at the corner of Forden Road and Belmont Drive, the current site of the family’s furniture warehouse.

Wilbur Murray, standing at center, conducts an auction several decades ago in Hood River. He went to auctioneering school in Billings, Mont., before he and his wife Betty started the auction yard on Belmont Drive in Hood River. Wilbur spent years as an auctioneer, often volunteering his time with his son Greg at many community events.

Wilbur, originally from Dayville, Ore., east of the John Day Fossil Beds, went to auctioneer school in Billings, Mont., and then made a go of it on Belmont. Wilbur was a fixture as a buyer at Portland area auctions, and he and his son Greg, who also became an auctioneer, both donated their skills at fundraisers for local non-profit groups. Everything from Boy Scout cake auctions to the Hood River County Fair livestock sales. Both Wilbur and Greg were made honorary members of the Pine Grove Fire Department for their work at the Department's benefit auctions.  

Slowly building the business through hard work and dedication, the Murrays got their hands into a little history along the way. 

In 1969, they did the salvage of the Hotel The Dalles, purchasing and removing all the furnishings of the building, actually hauling the furniture out while the building was being demolished by a bulldozer on the roof. The items were sold both at their auction and at their new venture, a used furniture store on the Belmont Drive property.

Building the Business

In 1972, The Murrays purchased Murray’s Trading Post in Odell, where they sold all types of used home furnishings. Everything from paperback books to refrigerators. The 2 locations of the business did well, and the business incorporated in 1974 as Murray’s Auction Center Inc. 

The Murray's business grew and the Belmont Drive locationed transitioned to become a  retail new furniture location with 3 stores on the property. By 1982, the family wanted to move the new furniture end of the business to town and leased what is now the current site of The Next Door, adjacent to Point S Tires on Tucker Road.

A tent city at Rajneeshpuram, "The Ranch's First Festival Year 1983" Photo by Samvado Gunnar Kossatz

In 1986, Wilbur and Betty traveled to Rancho Rajneesh, (Rajneeshpuram), the Big Muddy Ranch near Antelope after its leaders fled the country. The Murrays purchased 26 truckloads of furnishings during the liquidation sale on the Bagwan's property. All types of furniture and fixtures were hauled to Hood River for sale from the Big Muddy. The Murrays aquired all types of interesting items from Rancho Rajneesh. They still have the Hotel Rajneesh sign.

The business continued to grow its offerings and by 1987 had purchased the ground and started building what is its current location, Murray’s Furniture at 981 Tucker Road in the Hood River Heights. And it had the distinction of being a Broyhill Showcase Gallery with a much larger space to stock a broader variety of furnishings.

Murray’s Furniture at 981 Tucker Road

And in 2001, the family business took yet another transformation, choosing to close the Trading Post in Odell while opening Murray’s Furniture Clearance Center at 1105 Tucker Road.

Because of the success of the Clearance Center, in 2017, Ashley Furniture approached the family, asking them to be a licensee, and a deal was made. The Murray family owns and operates the Ashley Homestore with a complete line of Ashley furniture. 

In recent years, Christine said she and Aric, a former paratrooper in the US Army, decided to take a stronger role in the business when Christine’s parents, Gary and Kit, decided to take a step back at the start of the pandemic. 

“It was a huge change,” Christine said, noting they have worked diligently to modernize the business, taking it from paper to digital.

Next Generation  

On a sidenote, Christine said she met Aric, 35, while working in Arlington. She worked as a nail tech and esthetician there and then in Hood River until COVID hit. 

But when it became clear, Gary and Kit, wanted to take a lesser role, Christine said she and Aric made the firm decision to step up and manage the Ashley Homestore.

Kit and Gary meanwhile are taking some time to fix up the old hunting cabin in Dayville where Wilbur was raised.

And the Murray family traditions and values continue to get passed along.

“This is what I was born to do,” Christine said. “Decorating just comes to me naturally. And I love working with customers that I have known since I was a little kid."