Having just turned 83, and still hard at work six days a week, Ralph Chumley is a man who truly loves being an upholsterer and restorer of antique furniture. He began his journey with upholstery back in 1963, when he worked at the old Singer Furniture factory on Hollins Road. He worked there for five years, climbing up the ranks to Supervisor in just fifteen months. It was there that he learned nearly everything there was to know about furniture construction.
In 1965, a few years before he left Singer, he bought a recently started, un-named upholstery business that had a contract with the decorating department of Sears. He took on that contract, along with a sewing machine and a staple gun for $1,000. Ralph established himself just down the street from his current location, in what was commonly known as ‘the old bake shop building’. It now houses the Veterans of Foreign Wars organization. He rented the building for $50 a month, back when it had no heat or air conditioning. He named his new side-business ‘Citizen’s Upholstery’, drawing inspiration, ironically, from his former Danville employer, Citizen’s Heating and Air. He knew it would be advantageous to have a name that would land towards the beginning of the phone book, and he couldn’t think of any better B names.
It must have worked out for him because it was less than three years before he had more business than he could handle part time. He eventually left Singer and became fully self-employed, working tirelessly at Citizen’s nearly seven days a week. He kept up that pace for fifty years, but now he makes sure to take Saturdays off. A very sensible decision.
Ralph states that he initially moved to the area to get a job with the railroad, as most of his late wife’s family had worked for N&W. However, he was edged out because he exceeded the eighteen to twenty-three age limit by just four months. “They could do that back then,” says Chumley.
This worked out for the best, as he landed at Singer. Though he’d planned on staying only temporarily, it was there that he wound up discovering his true passion. Their reasons may have been discriminatory by today’s standards, but Ralph is grateful to the railroad for not hiring him. “I’ve done a lot of (upholstery) work for the railroad over the years,” says Ralph. “I’d go down to their east-end shops where it would be 130 degrees inside…Yeah, thank ya’ll for not hiring me!”
Chumley remained in the old bake shop for ten years, but in 1975, he moved into the current location at 125 East Lee Avenue. Historically, Citizen’s Upholstery has been staffed by much of Ralph’s immediate family. His late wife, Mary, worked at the store until a few short years before her death in 2019. She helped build the business, and her loss is still felt deeply.
The Chumleys had two sons, Clint and Cliff, both of whom worked in the business for decades. Sadly, Clint passed away within a year of his mother. Cliff, however, is still part of the business after forty-two years. A perfectionist and consummate professional, Cliff began working with his dad at the age of seventeen. If you ask him, however, he’d tell you he’s been there for fifty years, as he began helping out around the shop from the age of eight. Jennifer, Cliff’s wife of thirty-eight years, has taken on the more recent task of managing the business’ online and social media presence.
Though Citizen’s is certainly a family business, the roster would be incomplete without two, particularly tenacious part-timers. Throughout the years, the Chumleys have always hired reliable people who don’t smoke or engage in depravity. This not only makes for a safer facility, it also contributes to consistently stellar reviews! Currently, the part-time folks are Jim Bowers, who “really knows his stuff,” and Jessy Gira, who “isn’t afraid of nothing,” says Ralph.
Jessy’s college background consisted of the practical arts, and she’d been restoring furniture as a hobby. As fate would have it, she also worked for several years at Willow Tree, along with Cliff’s sister in-law. When she was looking for another job, the sister-in-law referred her to Citizen’s Upholstery, and it has been a blessing for all involved, ever since. Ralph and Cliff have taught Jessy everything in the short time she’s been with them, and she’s been a quick study.
When asked about the future of the business, Cliff and his dad joke that they’ll likely retire at the same time, but that won’t be for another eight years. Ralph still loves what he does and just hasn’t been able to find a good time to stop.
“There’s a lot of satisfaction,” he says, “in taking something that looks old and ruined and making something beautiful out of it.” Though Citizen’s re-covers a lot of modern furniture every year, Ralph especially loves the process of returning old, antique pieces to their former glory. Even as Ralph talks about removing the coverings and carefully learning how the wood was once put together, Cliff and Jessy demonstrate on a beautiful, antique sofa. “You have to be very careful,” says Ralph. “If you don’t take your time and study the construction, you can break the wood when you start to take it apart.” Though it might be easy enough to fashion a replacement piece of wood, the piece would no longer be an original antique.
Ralph certainly loves what he does, but even more, he loves how many great people he’s been able to meet. “It makes the job fun!”
His implicit trust in his customers, as well as his admiration for them, has created a feedback loop that has earned him a 5-Star rating on Google, plus countless great reviews on Angie’s list. “People love us,” he says.
Between 2018 and 2019, the Chumleys suffered two losses in the family. Because of this, they closed the shop for several months. When they were ready to return to normal in 2020, they were forced to close again due to lockdowns. Though it all, Ralph is proud to say they didn’t lose a single job during those times. In fact, because of the lockdowns and the subsequent supply chain crisis, 2021 was his best year yet. As Ralph explains, “folks were forced to stay at home, looking at their old furniture.” When the lockdowns began to lift, the economy, as well as lost wages, forced more people to opt for restoring old furniture, rather than buying new. The story of Citizen’s Upholstery’s success in a time of adversity encourages a sense of hope that everything will be all right if we just keep working hard and looking for creative, economical solutions.
Citizen’s Upholstery offers and houses an extensive variety of fabrics for customers to choose from. Sourced from High Point and Charlotte in North Carolina, as well as from suppliers in Georgia, California, Minnesota, and New York, the in-house upholstery options vary widely in terms of color, shade, pattern, and texture. In addition to large rolls that line the walls, Citizen’s also has a library of sample books. They encourage clients to take the books home, to ensure prospective fabric choices match the décor under the correct lighting, throughout the whole day. In addition to the seemingly boundless variety in store, Citizen’s can also use any quality fabric chosen by the customer from other sources.
For a small fee, which is calculated based on distance and location, Mr. Chumley and his staff will even pick-up and deliver the furniture to be serviced! Mr. Chumley is friendly, flexible, and more than easy to work with. Just don’t ask him to recover your boat. That’s where he draws the line!
In love with the firm, yet cushy feel of your old furniture, but tired of the old, worn-out fabric that covers it? A professional re-upholstery job just might be the thing to solve this conundrum. There are a few reputable upholstery businesses in the area, but Vinton Virginia holds a hidden gem of its own in Citizen’s Upholstery and Furniture Co. Unassuming in appearance, this tiny, downtown building offers full-service upholstering and restoration of any furniture you want covered, re-covered, or repaired.

Ralph and Cliff Chumley
Citizen’s Upholstery & Furniture Company
125 E Lee Avenue, Vinton, VA
540-345-5060 • Citizensuph@gmail.com
www.CitizensUpholsteryAndFurniture.com