# OKCpedia > Businesses & Employers >  Mathis Brothers Question

## Charlie40

What has happened to Bill and Larry Mathis? I don't see them on the Mathis Brothers commercials anymore it is this Rit Mathis who is he and why is he doing the commercials now. Anyone in the know have an answer?

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## SoonerDave

I don't know this for a fact, but my guess is they desired to aim for a younger "vibe" on their commercials. That's why they brought something called "Rit," and overhauled the interior of the store. MB's ads have always hovered right on the edge of annoying for me, and "Rit" doesn't help things.

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## Sheetkeecker

Rit Mathis is an effective and pleasant spokesman for Mathis Brothers. 
I think he is a breath of fresh air from the screaming maniacs and echo-chambered hucksters others use.
Enhances the image of Mathis Brothers quite well, I think.
And, thank God they waited for him to grow up before springing him.

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## Maynard

LostOgle:  Meet the New Mathis Brother...

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## Questor

He's the son of Bill Mathis. You may remember him as the little baby they had on commercials with them long, long ago. I agree seems like they're going for a younger demo now... Even the background people shopping in their commercials are skewing younger. If I had to guess... Baby Boomers are probably past their furniture buying prime now.

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## RadicalModerate

I figured that was A Real Mathis (and not just a holographic clone mathis).

I'm looking forward to The Diffie Motors Commercials of The Future.
Oh, wait . . . They are already here!  And even MORE annoying!

So now, instead,  I'm waiting for Sluggo to give another shot at resurrecting Soundtrak . . .

Geez . . .
(or Alan Merrill Junior III  . . . or Tom Padgham the XXII) . . .

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## venture

The new style of commercials and Rit don't bother me, it definitely shows they are targeting a younger crowd like others said.

If this bothers you though, just wait for the next crop of Ogles to rise up and replace their fathers. *shiver*

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## SoonerDave

> He's the son of Bill Mathis. You may remember him as the little baby they had on commercials with them long, long ago. I agree seems like they're going for a younger demo now... Even the background people shopping in their commercials are skewing younger. If I had to guess... Baby Boomers are probably past their furniture buying prime now.


Wait a sec.....the commercials with that baby ran after my wife and I were married, and we've only been married 17 years, so there's no way Rit is only 17...must be a different kiddo....

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## Bill Robertson

I wired a house that Bill Mathis and his first wife had built. This was somewhere around 87 to 90. Rit was learning to walk at the time. That would put him at 23 to 28.

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## corpsman

I shudder at that thought at least as much as the thought of Tom Padgham's or Alan Merril's grandkids showing up on late night TV.  lol


> The new style of commercials and Rit don't bother me, it definitely shows they are targeting a younger crowd like others said.
> 
> If this bothers you though, just wait for the next crop of Ogles to rise up and replace their fathers. *shiver*

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## SoonerDave

> I wired a house that Bill Mathis and his first wife had built. This was somewhere around 87 to 90. Rit was learning to walk at the time. That would put him at 23 to 28.


Aha. That s'plains it.

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## RadicalModerate

Yes . . . 
But how can anyone explain naming their firstborn son after fabric dye in a box?

(although I suppose Rit is better than Jell . . .[o])

P.S.: Ditto on The NextGen Ogles . . . {cringe}

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## Questor

> I wired a house that Bill Mathis and his first wife had built. This was somewhere around 87 to 90. Rit was learning to walk at the time. That would put him at 23 to 28.


That makes sense.  I didn't mean a literal baby... I recall that he was sort of setting up on his dad's lap in the commercials.  A Google search confirms articles referencing him as Bill's son, but I couldn't find anything on the very early commercials.

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## UncleCyrus

Isn't Rit the third generation of the Mathis family to do the commercials?

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## ljbab728

> Isn't Rit the third generation of the Mathis family to do the commercials?


Mathis Brothers was started in the middle 50's by Don and Bud Mathis.  Bill and Larry are Don's sons.  The first time I ever visited their store was when it was on Western Ave.  Evans Furniture was in that same area at the time.

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## boscorama

I remember when the now-retiring Mathis kids took over the commercials following their old man.  I, too, prefer tv spots without grand babies.  MB has kept it in the family so far, without trying to make their children tv stars. Thank you MB!

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## SoonerBoy18

I miss the old commercial of the late 90's with those two brothers, i dont know their names, and a guy would sing "Mathis Brothers Furnitureeee!" lol

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## ljbab728

> I miss the old commercial of the late 90's with those two brothers, i dont know their names, and a guy would sing "Mathis Brothers Furnitureeee!" lol


I'm sure you would have loved the old country music tv show that Don and Bud used to host then.  They sang about the "fire blazin prices".  LOL

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## kevinpate

> I miss the old commercial of the late 90's with those two brothers, i dont know their names, and a guy would sing "Mathis Brothers Furnitureeee!" lol


They aren't brothers, but they sure have sold a few truckloads of furniture to folks who thought they were.  Decent marketing plan spanning a couple of decades.


On edit - am I mistaken on the kinship?  I thought they were cousins and not brothers.  If so, Oopsey on my part.

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## ljbab728

> They aren't brothers, but they sure have sold a few truckloads of furniture to folks who thought they were.  Decent marketing plan spanning a couple of decades.
> 
> 
> On edit - am I mistaken on the kinship?  I thought they were cousins and not brothers.  If so, Oopsey on my part.


Kevin, they don't look that much alike but Bill and Larry are brothers.

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## kevinpate

Learned something today.  Given how the day went, that's actually a touch noteworthy, lol.  Thanks for the clarification.

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## Larry OKC

During the transition from one generation to the next, thought I saw another "younger" mathis (along with Rit). Presume it was to keep the "brothers" theme going, but recently just seeing Rit. Anyone know?

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## Bill Robertson

> They aren't brothers, but they sure have sold a few truckloads of furniture to folks who thought they were.  Decent marketing plan spanning a couple of decades.
> 
> 
> On edit - am I mistaken on the kinship?  I thought they were cousins and not brothers.  If so, Oopsey on my part.


I didn't think they were brothers either. We're wrong. The history on the MBF website says Bill and Larry are Don's sons.

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## stick47

I believe the original Mathis furniture store was started by Bud & Dons Father on California street back in the 40s.

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## Dubya61

There's a very interesting history I read somewhere (on Stacy Barton's blog?) about the history of OKC furniture stores and locally broadcast C&W music shows.  I think that Jude and Jody, Bob Mills and Mathis Brothers were all competitors in the whole scene.

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## BBatesokc

They ran a pretty sleazy business in regard to their female employees 15+ years ago when the brothers worked out of the OKC location. While the 'hamster stories' were baseless, the sexual harassment of female employees and private bedroom within the store were very real.

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## UnclePete

Which store was at 301 West Reno (West was pronounced "Wes".







> I believe the original Mathis furniture store was started by Bud & Dons Father on California street back in the 40s.

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## stick47

> Which store was at 301 West Reno (West was pronounced "Wes".


The present store was formerly located in that direction. Not sure of the address though.

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## SoonerBoy18

The video Mathis Brothers didnt want you to see, anybody remember this? Lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTZGX...e_gdata_player

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## Sheetkeecker

I have heard of some guys who used to do commercials while plowing out in a field, selling furniture, I think.
Oklahoma = either furniture or cars or fast food. The occasional check-cashing place with a man dressed like The Riddler.

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## Pete

Bizarrely, Mathis Brothers now has a large store in the Inland Empire area of Los Angeles and when I see one of their commercials, it's always a disorienting experience.

I bet they do well out here as there is nothing close to what they offer in terms of size and selection.

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## Maynard

The Mathis Brothers need a rap a la Sammy Stevens:

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## Sheetkeecker

> Bizarrely, Mathis Brothers now has a large store in the Inland Empire area of Los Angeles and when I see one of their commercials, it's always a disorienting experience.
> 
> I bet they do well out here as there is nothing close to what they offer in terms of size and selection.


The are all Okies in the Inland Empire   :Tiphat:

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## SoonerBoy18

> Bizarrely, Mathis Brothers now has a large store in the Inland Empire area of Los Angeles and when I see one of their commercials, it's always a disorienting experience.
> 
> I bet they do well out here as there is nothing close to what they offer in terms of size and selection.


I didnt know they had stores in other Cities, especially Los Angelas.

Does that mean you dont like that they have stores located in areas like that?

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## boscorama

"We got them fire blazing prices at Mathis Brothers Furniture"

Later,

" .. ... ..... .......  .,..... at Mathis Brothers Anniversary Sale"


I would guess Rit is a nickname for Richard:  Rit(chard).

I've heard about their commercials in the Palm Desert area from a local who was suitably weirded out to see them while vacationing there.

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## ljbab728

> There's a very interesting history I read somewhere (on Stacy Barton's blog?) about the history of OKC furniture stores and locally broadcast C&W music shows.  I think that Jude and Jody, Bob Mills and Mathis Brothers were all competitors in the whole scene.


That's very true.  I remember when all of those tv shows were on.  I didn't like any of them but I remember them.  An interesting fact is that Jude and Jody appeared on Bob Mill's show at the same time they were operating their furniture store.

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## UncleCyrus

> The video Mathis Brothers didnt want you to see, anybody remember this? Lol
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTZGX...e_gdata_player


Haha, I hadn't seen that one before.

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## TeriOKC

> Mathis Brothers was started in the middle 50's by Don and Bud Mathis.  Bill and Larry are Don's sons.  The first time I ever visited their store was when it was on Western Ave.  Evans Furniture was in that same area at the time.



My older sister worked for Bud and Don in the original store on Western in the early 1960s. They were good ole boys who got their start refurbishing old appliances and selling them. They didn't start in CA. They are Okies. 

As far as the new commercials with Rit Mathis go, I love them. He does a great job. I'm so glad that they shelved the commercials with his dad and his second wife and new family. They made me want to throw up.

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## ljbab728

> They didn't start in CA. They are Okies.


If anyone ever said they started in California I must have missed that post.  There was mention about the opening of stores in Ontario and Indio, California though.

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## ctchandler

The California comment referred to California street in OKC.  See below.
C. T.

"I believe the original Mathis furniture store was started by Bud & Dons Father on California street back in the 40s."

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## TAYGARLAN

They are currently building 90 mattress stores and 10 mattress plants in China..

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## Larry OKC

> They are currently building 90 mattress stores and 10 mattress plants in China..


So, "Lady Americana" won't be American made?  LOL

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## Sheetkeecker

> So, "Lady Americana" won't be American made?  LOL


The name will be changed to Madame Chow-Fat Mattresses for the imported models.

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## SoonerDave

> So, "Lady Americana" won't be American made?  LOL


Based on what I've heard from those who have owned one, America wouldn't want to take credit for them...

One of those strange things...you wouldn't think mattresses would engender that much strident opinion, but man, of what few people I've ever heard offer an negative opinion about a mattress, Lady Americana owners are far and away the winners. Lots of loathing out there for this brand....

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## oddfellow69

> I didn't think they were brothers either. We're wrong. The history on the MBF website says Bill and Larry are Don's sons.


Don and Bud were cousins. Bill and Larry are brothers by Don Mathis. It is actually nice to see a younger Mathis keeping up the family tradition.  Although I'm like some who shutter at seeing a Padgham or a Smicklas or one of the other grand kids appearing at an awful time of day or night. I will however say that the sons of Jude and Jody have kept the business going but have stayed out of the limelight.

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