A Kensington Family Story: Ralph Jr. and His Grandfather

Some people end up working somewhere by chance. Ralph Jr., who works in our warehouse, found out his path here started before he was even born. His grandfather, Charles Yurby, worked at Kensington Furniture too.

A Job That Runs in the Family

Ralph Jr. has lived in South Jersey his whole life, forty years and counting. When he told his mother he'd gotten a job at Kensington, she mentioned something he didn't expect: his grandfather had worked there before him. He brought it up to a longtime team member, Michael, who reacted immediately. "His his eyes got big, his mouth dropped," Ralph Jr. recalls, once he realized whose grandson was standing in front of him.

Neither Ralph Jr. nor his mother had known the name would mean anything to anyone still working here. It did.

Growing Up Around the Corner

Before he ever worked in the warehouse, Ralph Jr. knew the building as a kid on a bike. He grew up in Pleasantville, close enough that he and his friends would ride over on weekends. "So me and my friends, we used to get our bikes, and we used to come here," he says, "just so we can get candies and cookies in the front."

That memory sat quietly for years until he came back as an adult, this time to work, not for candy.

What the Connection Means

Warehouse work isn't easy, and Ralph Jr. doesn't pretend otherwise. "I wouldn't advise coming to a warehouse if you're not willing to do the hard work," he says. "As soon as I come in, I'm sweating." But the physical part isn't what stayed with him. Finding out his grandfather had done the same job, in the same place, decades earlier gave the work a different weight.

"It kind of feels like I was destined to come here," he says. He describes the team the way you'd describe people you've known your whole life, not coworkers he met on the job. "I love the family aspect. And you feel it. You definitely feel it."

That sense of continuity is part of what a family-run store carries forward without anyone planning it. A grandfather works in the warehouse. Decades later, his grandson ends up there too, not because anyone arranged it, but because he grew up two neighborhoods away and needed a job. The overlap wasn't the point. It's just what happened.

Why We're Sharing This

Stories like Ralph Jr.'s don't show up on a delivery invoice or a showroom tag. They show up in conversations between team members who've been here a long time and the people who show up to work every day, load trucks, and keep a warehouse running. Ralph Jr. put it simply: "I love Kensington." His grandfather, it turns out, might have said the same thing.