Junior Achievement Alaska Business Monthly Hall of Fame Laureates: Ruth & Coy Bailey.

• Author: Stomierowski, Peg
• Position: JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT 2010 SPECIAL SECTION - Company overview

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Ruth and Coy Bailey aren't afraid to strike out and try new things, like that indoor waterfall at the family's furniture superstore in Anchorage. They envisioned a creative place where families could shop for new ideas and looks to enjoy in their homes.

An ability to consistently work hard, pursue leads, look at things differently and blend their skills harmoniously helps explain why they've been a growing force in Alaska business with the successful expansion of Bailey's Furniture operations over two decades.

Coy and Ruth met back at Elmendorf Air Force Base, where he was stationed after entering the military at 17. Ruth was a telephone directory clerk there, and they wed when they were 19.

DEEP ROOTS

She was the daughter of Palmer dairy farmers who'd come to Alaska from Wisconsin in the mid-1930s with other enterprising colonists from the Lower 48 to settle and farm the Matanuska Valley. Her young soldier enjoyed going home from the base with her on weekends, and climbing the Butte near their home.

Their impulses proved solid: they've been married 51 years, have raised five kids and now boast of their 16 grandkids and eight great-grandkids. Most of their kids are involved in the business, including oldest and youngest sons Ron (president) and Michael (vice president) and daughter Vicki (general manager), who will graduate from DeVry University this spring.

As Ruth tells it, she and Coy were inclined by nature and upbringing to work hard and pay heed to what matters. "We were both frugal," she said. "We started out with practically nothing and learned to be good budgeters."

A FOOT IN THE DOOR

In their 40s, with three kids still living at home, they ventured outside Alaska to North Carolina, where they bought and managed a small convenience store that had gasoline pumps out front. Even though they ran the business for only a couple of years--actually, she worried that it might in practice provide a little too much togetherness--she credits that experience of sharing a common business goal with preparing them for loftier ventures later when, homesick, they returned to Alaska.

For most of their union, Coy continued to work for other people as well. After they'd come back to Alaska, he coached youth sports, including boxing, Little League and football, and was active in athletics leadership, serving under Gov. William Egan as the State Commissioner of Athletics. He was founder of the Girls Club of Alaska and the...