By : David Rollert

On January 1, iconic Knowlton furniture dealer, civic leader and storyteller Cam Brown officially retired. Tempo spoke with Cam and his family – wife Helen, daughters Amy and Jessica, and son Greg. Here are 12 things about Cam you may not know.

A Love Story at the Heart of Camlen

• It’s a love story. Cam and Helen, thus the name Camlen Inc., met working at Eaton’s and married at 19.

• They figured out they could buy old furniture, refinish it and sell it for more. Cam went out “picking” old furniture by knocking on strangers’ doors.

• A trip to England led to buying a container of old furniture, and then 18 more that next years, including 100 old pianos.

• Helen made Cam promise to buy no more pianos. Things only got better from there.

Building a Business

• They continued buying containers from all over, including Latvia, China and Russia.

• The current Camlen store on Lakeside opened in 1983 – it was the fourth location for their store. The family moved in upstairs. Earlier shops in Montreal and Bondville were closed or sold over the next few years.

• When Cam arrived home from picking trips each Friday, the whole family would empty the overladen truck. He drove over 130,000 km a year, until 2015.

• The new store featured Helen’s Christmas shop, and then a fudge machine. Both were huge hits. A recommendation in Fodor’s travel guide brought customers from as far as Europe.

• Christmas, fudge, and furniture proved too much for one space, so they expanded for a few years into the stone building across the road.

Community Impact and Innovation

• Camlen’s success helped encourage other businesses that drew visitors as well as locals. Cam and Helen also worked to help the town thrive, including through the former Knowlton Merchants Association, Chamber of Commerce and events like Christmas in July – not to mention Cam’s recurring and hilarious starring role as the auctioneer for the Musée Lac Brome Museum Bring’n’Bid.

• Camlen focused on producing furniture in the new millennium, with Greg driving sales and Amy leading manufacturing. Camlen specializes in high-end original and made-to-measure designs.

• Though Amy and Greg bought the business four years ago, it took until now for Cam to retire. He continues to turn old window frames into elegant mirrors and pitch in at the store and factory.