Photos by Jason Redmond / Star staff Al Avedisian, former owner of Home Furniture Co. in Camarillo, talks about the company's history in his office at the store. His father, Leon, started the business in Los Angeles 80 years ago.

The store opened in Camarillo at Arneill Road and Pickwick Drive. Al Avedisian says he initially worried that there wouldn't be enough customers.

A Camarillo furniture company is celebrating its 80th anniversary, which makes it one of the city's oldest businesses, according to the president of the Chamber of Commerce.

But there's more history inside Home Furniture Co. The former proprietor still checks in daily at the age of 87.

Al Avedisian is a colorful character with a gift of gab who relocated the business to Camarillo from Los Angeles in 1962, with his business partner Al Cashin.

"We closed the store in L.A. on Vermont for two years during World War II," he recalled. "We were there for 20 years.

"It was different when we came to Camarillo," he said. "It was fun every afternoon about 4 p.m. when everyone used to come and sit in our La-Z-Boys and talk about the developing town."

'We helped grow the area'

The city incorporated in 1963 with a population of 10,000, compared with today's nearly 66,000 residents.

The first store in Camarillo was on Pickwick and Arneill. "We helped grow the area," Avedisian said.

Avedisian and his wife, Alice, both worked in the business together.

"Alice kept our books," Al said. "She kept everything going financially. I ran the store."

Today, the Avedisians live in Camarillo, where Al works out at the gym and spends time with his grandkids when he's not at the store.

He is retired, but customers still come by to see him and go to lunch with him. He also hears regularly from former employees.

"I have sales reps that called on me years ago who still come up and visit, and we talk about the old days over lunch," he said.

Son, daughter at store, too

The camaraderie and history are heartwarming to Carl Cashin, Al Cashin's son and the company's president for the past eight years. "The old delivery guys, who are now sheriffs, accountants and other professional people, still call to check in on Al," Cashin said. "For many of them, this was their first job."

"I'm proud of my dad to come up here based on faith that the area would grow," said Joan Fiedler, Avedisian's daughter, and now a business partner in the store.

"There were only a few restaurants in town and the bowling alley," she recalled. "My most vivid memory was seeing eucalyptus trees as we drove into Camarillo down the Conejo Grade."

Carl Cashin said it was a small town without a traffic light. "I was 9 when they started looking for a location," he said. "Thousand Oaks was smaller than Camarillo.

"As a kid, I felt we were moving to the wild, wild West. It was all lemon trees, and there were no street signals."

The store has been on Las Posas Road since 1999.

"Home Furniture is one of our longest-lasting businesses," said Tom Kelley, president and CEO of the Camarillo Chamber of Commerce. "It seems that Camarillo is a business-friendly place, and businesses tend to last longer here."