Gavin Sellers Creative
Miller and Matt Dart of Pierce & Parker Interiors
Matt and Miller Dart, owners of Pierce & Parker, abide by a set of golden rules when they go to market: only buy what’s beautiful and something they would have in their own home. Before a piece even enters the Pierce & Parker doors on Frederica Road, the Darts have done the work to ensure a high standard of aesthetics, craftsmanship, and quality. “We don’t just order from catalogs,” says Miller Dart. “We sit in every chair and on every sofa that we buy.”
Miller Dart’s parents, Jack and Fran Pierce, along with friend Barrie Parker, opened the original Pierce & Parker in Macon in 1976. They moved the business down to St. Simons Island in 1980, purchasing the current location from Harvey & Harriet’s Furniture. Starting with a much smaller footprint, they doubled the size of the storefront in the 1990s. Pierce & Parker quickly established a reputation for providing beautiful furniture with impeccable customer service.
Upon Jack and Fran’s retirement in 2016, Miller and Matt Dart took over the legacy business, creating a design center in 2017 and expanding the footprint in 2020 with an extensive renovation.
Matt acknowledges the foundation the Pierces established through decades of hard work. “Jack and Fran built something that was very well respected on St. Simons,” he shares, “and made a lot of investments over the years.” He adds, “I’m impressed by what my in-laws built—it’s very difficult to start something from nothing.”
Pierce & Parker’s current 17,000 square foot space is welcoming and inviting, every room filled with soothing palettes and statement-making pieces to inspire. Guests and clients roam from bedrooms to dining rooms to outdoor spaces, curated with thoughtful touches of loveliness. The Darts make it a point to source new collections. “We try to keep it fresh,” says Miller. “You could come in every week, and it would look totally different.”
“People come in all the time and say, ‘I’ve never seen a store quite like this—where you pay so much attention to detail.’ That’s the legacy of Fran [Pierce] because she cared so much about how every room looked.”
— Matt Dart, Owner, Pierce & Parker
Whether it’s a gift or in-store purchase to enhance a room or small space, or a complete design project, involving architects, builders, and independent designers, Pierce & Parker treats everyone with warmth, kindness, and genuine interest to make the experience meaningful.
“We’ll meet with architects and builders. We’ll help pick out tiles and finishes. We don’t just help with the items we sell—we help with everything. There’s also an advantage to having such a large space. You get to sit in the furniture and see the actual piece that you are ordering.”
—Miller Dart, Owner, Pierce & Parker
And everyone who works at Pierce & Parker travels to market at some point, from new hires to senior designers Lori Harden and Brenda Regan. The team meets with reps to gain insight into the latest design direction to stay informed and provide guidance to clients. But much more than a team-building experience, the Darts want their tight-knit work “family” to understand, cherish, and value the company’s legacy and pillars of success: hard work, dedication, put the client’s needs first, and always choose timeless over trends.
Gavin Sellers Creative
Miller and Matt with their precious pups
Matt and Miller Dart have a clear vision for the company’s future: continue design leadership on St. Simons and Sea Island, while introducing Pierce and Parker as a true design destination to a broader market, including custom pieces.
“We’re starting to do custom pieces and in discussion for some furniture design, both indoor and outdoor,” shares Matt. “We also have some original art we’ve commissioned—we’re really trying to become more comprehensive.”
Miller adds, “We’ve introduced so many categories that my parents didn’t have such as overhead lighting and Oushak rugs, even down to smaller items such as throws and coffee table books. We want to be known as a trusted source for all aspects of a client’s needs.”
With signature Pierce & Parker work in homes across the Golden Isles and beyond, Matt and Miller Dart, along with an extraordinary in-house design team, have set the next fifty years in motion.
Photography by Gavin Sellers Creative
Production Assistant: EL Bennett
