Doug O'Donnell

Cardi's Furniture

Cardi's History unfolds in the year 1901 in the town of Itri, Italy. NI-RO-PE's grandparents, Dominic and Rosa Cardi embarked for America, where they settled in the Knightsville section of Cranston. Rosa opened Cardi's as a general store in 1928. NI-RO-PE's father, Nicholas Cardi Sr., left high school at age 16 to work full time at the store. In 1942 he expanded the furniture business to include appliances and carpeting. Nicholas Cardi Sr.'s brother, Peter joined the company in 1945. He retired in 1975. Nicholas Jr., Ron, and Peter joined the family business full time after completing college. In 1983, Cardi's Furniture opened a Broyhill showcase gallery, one of the first in the country. Before retiring 1984, Nicholas Cardi Sr. Had a vision to reinvent Cardi's as it opened its first Superstore, a massive distribution center and new corporate offices. In 1989, Cardi's 24-acre Swansea facility opened offering customers the best furniture shopping experience in Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts. Four years later, in 1993, Cardi's continued to provide for the changing needs of furniture shoppers by opening their first Thomasville showroom, also in Swansea. In the summer of 1996, Cardi's remarkable growth accelerated further with the opening of the largest showroom of its kind in all of New England! Cardi's second location on Route 2, West Warwick, is conveniently located to service the West Bay area of Rhode Island, and nearby Connecticut. Cardi's Swansea location serves Rhode Island's East Bay, Southern Massachusetts, Cape Cod and the Islands! In January 2000, Cardi's opened their second Thomasville Showroom and created the Rhode Island Design Center, the largest, most luxurious home furnishings interior design showroom in our marketplace, also on Route 2, West Warwick. Simultaneously, Cardi's Swansea location was completely renovated and expanded to 3 times its original size.