Our Story

Dunk & Bright was founded in 1927 by William Bright Sr. and William Dunk Sr. in Syracuse's Brighton Neighborhood on South Salina Street. Bill Bright Sr. was a furniture salesman from Bridgeport, Connecticut, who came to Syracuse with the dream of opening his own business. Bill Dunk Sr., was an Englishman, born in Kent, who came to the United States as a teenager. He went to work for H.H. Franklin, a car company located in Syracuse, and worked himself up to production manager. Dunk & Bright met on the floor of Brown, Curtis & Brown, a furniture store in downtown Syracuse. Bill Dunk was impressed with Bill Bright, who waited on him and his wife when they dropped in to buy furniture. Dunk told Bright that he was a good salesman, and that he ought to go into business for himself. He agreed to put up the money, and they started the store. Mr. Bright ultimately paid Mr. Dunk $5,000 for his share of the business. When Mr. Bright died in 1939, brother-in-law, John Monahan, took over and was in charge until he died, in 1952. Pat Bright Sr., son of the founder, became president in 1952.

Over the years, Dunk & Bright has expanded several times. In 1991, 12,000 square feet were added. The store now covered the entire corner of South Salina St. and Brighton Ave. Soon after the expansion, following a successful business career in Washington, DC and New York City, Pat's son Jim moved back to Syracuse and in 1993 purchased Dunk & Bright from Pat.

In 1998, Dunk & Bright expanded again. A 13,000 square foot addition was added in order to get more furniture in the store, and create more business

In 2002, a new facade was put on the building. This gave it a fresher, newer look. Also, the bridge that led customers over to the second building, along with a portion of that building, were demolished in order to create a larger parking lot for the increased amount of customers heading to Dunk & Bright.

In 2006, yet another addition was built onto Dunk & Bright. This was the largest yet...25,000 square feet to be filled with even more beautiful furniture. That same year, the South Side Innovation Center was born. SSIC, which is sponsored by Syracuse University, is located in the Dunk & Bright's building across the parking lot from the main store. It is supporting an entrepreneurial renaissance in a neighborhood with untapped potential. It holds more than 13,000 square feet of usable space for shared business services, the WISE Center, and a large classroom for training and teaching. In 2022 Dunk & Bright opened it's second store, this one is in Clay, NY. Today, Dunk & Bright's two showrooms are both nearly 100,000 square feet. They are considered to be the largest furniture showrooms in New York State. Dunk & Bright also operates a 1,000,000 cubic foot distribution center at a separate location in Liverpool, NY at 4530 Steelway Blvd. South, off Morgan Rd.