HE'S `KING' OF FILLMORE FURNITURE STORE MEMORABILIA KEPT AT HOME TILL QUAKE LEFT IT ALL SHOOK UP.

Byline: Andrea Cavanaugh Staff Writer

FILLMORE - In the back of a Fillmore furniture store, past rows of recliners and racks of flooring samples, is an unlikely tribute to ``The King.''

The back walls of the Ballard Furniture Store are lined with framed gold records and a glass case filled with hundreds of Elvis Presley memorabilia items, including clocks, watches, rings, plates, figurines and tiny guitars.

``There's a little bit of everything,'' said owner Ron Stewart. ``There's a lot of stuff I don't even have out. I have boxes and boxes of stuff.''

The items in Stewart's collection range from inexpensive trinkets to pricey collectibles. A gold-plated Winchester 30-30 rifle inscribed with Presley's name is framed on the wall.

Some of the items in his collection are for sale, such as the Gibson Legend guitar with ``Elvis Presley'' inlaid in the frets in mother-of pearl.

A price tag on the guitar reads ``Was $8,000 - Now $10,000.''

``Everyone thinks I've got it backward,'' Stewart said. ``I don't. It went up.''

Stewart, 55, began collecting Elvis records as a teenager when he would go to RCA in Los Angeles with his father to pick up color TVs for the family furniture store, which has operated in downtown Fillmore since 1937.

``I liked Elvis from the very beginning,'' Stewart said. ``I just thought he was a great performer and a good person.''

He housed his collection in his Fillmore home until the Northridge Earthquake in 1994 brought opportunity among the rubble - his rebuilt store included room for the memorabilia, along with the 1950s-era Formica dinettes and the occasional jukebox he also sells.

In fact, Stewart stocks a little bit of everything - in addition to the licensed Elvis merchandise he sells, such as T-shirts and hats, the store sells saddles and tack to Fillmore's equestrian community.

Although he originally envisioned the collection as a way to draw customers into his Central Avenue furniture store, Stewart doesn't do much to promote his ``museum.'' Elvis fans who wander into his store are surprised by the collection, but usually return with friends or family in tow, he said.

Collections such as Stewart's are far from unusual, said officials at Graceland, Presley's Memphis mansion, which attracts more than 600,000 visitors each year. The displays pay tribute to Presley, who died in 1977 at age 42, a spokesman said.

``All expressions of love and remembrance perpetuate the legacy,'' Graceland's Todd Morgan said. ``It exposes potential new audiences to Elvis.''

Andrea Cavanaugh, [phone]

andrea.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) Ron Stewart, who began collecting Elvis memorabilia in the 1950s, looks at a replica of an Elvis Presley Gibson acoustic guitar valued at $10,000. The collection also includes gold records, a rifle and photos.

(2) Ron Stewart has many gold records in his collection as well as a rare pre-release record album of Elvis Presley's.

Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News