The “C” and “E” of C&E Furniture, one of Selbyville’s long-lived businesses, has stood for numerous things over the course of nearly half a century, and employee Kenny Madara has been there for each. After putting in more time than he could care to calculate, Madara is hanging up his towel, rolling away his dolly, and quite fittingly, retiring on — when else — Labor Day.
Coastal Point • RYAN SAXTON
Kenny Madara is putting away his handtruck after 44 years with C&E Furniture in Selbyville.
Madara started with C&E 44 years ago, when the company was formed by Carl Lekites and friend Ed, who sold and repaired televisions and appliances.
“I was basically right out of high school,” said Madara, who graduated from Selbyville High, prior to its conversion to a middle school. “I got through basic training in Ft. Knox, and when I got out of the service, I had a couple small jobs.” He was employed by Carl and Ed in October of 1963, just a month after marrying his wife, Diane.
After Ed left the business, Lekites’ wife, Esther, helped with the company, allowing the C&E name to aptly remain. That name became more closely associated with the furniture inventory it currently holds when brother-sister duo Nancy and John Winnington bought the property 25 years ago. Not wanting to extinguish the prominent name, it now often refers to their stock — casual to elegant.
Madara remained employed when ownership was given to the Winningtons, and he has worked as the warehouse manager, overseeing stocking and shipping of inventory over the years.
“There are usually four to five guys working with me at the warehouse,” Madara said. He estimated that there have been close to 65 people working there off and on since he started. “I used to do all of the deliveries, too,” he said.
Back in his early days, it wasn’t unheard of for Madara to man the truck from Selbyville all the way to Wilmington, Washington, D.C., or Fairfax, Va. “We’d deliver to pretty much all of the [Delmarva] Peninsula,” he said.
Looking back on his time spent with the company, Madara smiled. “I’m getting too old for this kind of work,” he said with a laugh, though manual labor has always been a significant part of his life. “I’ve been working ever since I was a kid,” he said. “We grew up on a farm, and we always had work somewhere. You had to work to eat.”
With some more time on his hands, Madara said he plans to travel to Nags Head in the Outer Banks of North Carolina — a vacation spot that he and his wife frequent when they are able. He also looks forward to hunting and fishing this fall season, though he may ultimately end up back at work.
“I might get bored out there with all that time,” he predicted. “Maybe I’ll head back to work. I don’t know. If they really get in a jam and need me, I would help out.”
With home remodeling projects and involvement with Selbyville Fire Department, Madara will likely have enough to keep himself occupied for the time being.
Nancy Winnington said was not at all hesitant to keep one of the company’s hardest workers when she and her brother became owners of C&E.
“We inherited him when we bought this place,” she said, “and he’s been a great asset.” Nancy Winnington now runs the business with daughters Rebecca and Katie. The company became a family affair, as it has proved to be a staple through the years. “My father, Don Selway, always said, ‘Furniture is fairer to the public, price-wise,’” said Winnington. “It’s still a good buy. Our prices haven’t changed after so many years.”
The 12-showroom building encompasses roughly 20,000 square feet, and carries everything from mattresses, box springs and bed frames to full kitchen and dinette sets, and everything in between. Area rugs, tables, dressers, armoires, and recliners — the building is much more than it appears at first glance. C&E also offers in-home design services free of charge.
With vacation homes occupied by owners and renters, the summer months are typically slower for Winnington’s store, and business is just starting to pick up. Freight deliveries have been coming in more frequently than normal. “We’ll be really busy from here all through the winter,” she said, undoubtedly well aware that her veteran warehouse manager will be spending the busy months of 2007 on a long-deserved vacation of his own.
C&E Furniture is located on U.S. Route 113 in Selbyville, just north of the Maryland state line. For more information, call (302) 436-5578 or visit their Web site at www.cefurniture.com.