Wilson-Bates Furniture and Bedding – Elko

Wilson-Bates Furniture and Bedding - Elko is a mattress store in Elko, Nevada, located at 2990 Idaho St. The store carries bedroom furniture alongside its mattress and bedding selection, and its wider catalog includes living room furniture in contemporary, traditional, casual and transitional styles, dining room furniture, laundry appliances such as washers and steamers and clothing systems, and outdoor seating. It holds a rating of 4.30 from customer reviews.

The business traces its history to October 1935, when Mr. and Mrs. E.E. White started out in Twin Falls. Mr. White had been selling Maytag washers in Utah, Colorado and Nevada since the age of 17 and earned a reputation as the "Maytag Man" in Ely, Nevada, where he operated a Maytag retail outlet and went door to door with washers strapped to his Oakland automobile. He later went to work for Nevada banker O.G. Bates, who became co-founder of Wilson-Bates Furniture, and the relationship prompted the Whites to move to Twin Falls and open a branch of the Nevada store, which they purchased a year later. The Whites went on to open stores across the Magic Valley, bought the Ely, Nevada store in 1955, and acquired the Elko store in 2013.

Wilson-Bates has been family-run since 1935 and is now operated by the Whites' two sons and their daughter, with their children also involved in the business. Mr. White retired in the late 1970s, and Mrs. White worked until 1983. The company also operates as a social-purpose business, supporting organizations including the Boys & Girls Club, The Salvation Army, Idaho Food Bank, Pet Shelters & Clinics, Valley House, Safari Club, the College of Southern Idaho Scholarship Fund, United Way, Ducks Unlimited, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Hospice Visions, the Red Cross, National Wild Turkey Federation, St. Luke's Foundation, Toys For Tots, Sportsmen For Fish & Wildlife and Special Olympics.

For Elko shoppers furnishing a bedroom or a home, that combination of a long family history and a positive rating from customers who have reviewed it is what the store brings to the area.