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On New Year’s Eve in 1970, Jeff Garfield heard about a brand-new furniture phenomenon: waterbeds. Two weeks later, Garfield was selling them, spurring a nearly 50-year career in furniture retail that eventually morphed into a focus on ethical, eco-conscious comfort, whether from a dorm-room futon or a $40,000 luxury mattress.

Last November, Garfield’s Wallingford-based Bedrooms & More—which he runs with his wife, Wanda, their children and daughter-in-law—opened an impressive 23,500-square-foot flagship location just doors away from the original storefront. The original 1972 shop is now stocked predominantly with seating options, while the new four-level, high-ceilinged showroom offers a more customer-service-driven retail experience, with more than 60 mattresses on display, including a store-in-store concept from high-end, handmade Swedish mattress maker Hästens. In an age when many retailers are shrinking their physical presence, it’s refreshing to see a family business expanding so beautifully.