In 2025, the last furniture store on Dauphin Street liquidated its stock and closed its doors. Hoffman Furniture Company was first listed at 411 Dauphin Street in the 1933 city directory. In that year, it joined a dozen furniture retailers on Dauphin Street between Joachim Street (Gulf Furniture Co.) west to Warren Street (International Furniture Co.).
Even with the Depression worsening, Mobilians would have had a good selection of home furnishings by strolling down the city’s busiest retail district. It had not always been that easy.
There were no furniture stores in Mobile prior to the Civil War. In 1860, there were four cabinet makers, just two of whom were operating on Dauphin Street. Furniture was made to order, and it was pricey…