Furniture bargains in North Carolina?

[Odilia]

I wrote this in the shopping forum too, but thought I might ask here too:

I know folks who went down to North Carolina (from PA) to buy furniture. They said it was much cheaper. I thought, surely after the additional shipping it must have not been cheaper, but no, they said even with having to ship from NC to PA it was significantly less expensive, enough to make it worth their going all the way down there to shop. So my question is, does anyone know of good places to get great bargains on good furniture in NC (or elsewhere) etc..?

 

[pearcrazy]

High Point NC is the furniture capital of the world (so they say) We''ve been looking in High Point a few times and have never found any huge bargains but I have friends who say they''ve gone after the furniture market (in April I think but some other NC residents correct me if I''m wrong) and have racked up some great bargains that were featured in the show.

I''ve had really good luck with Furnitureland South which is located in that area. www.furniturelandsouth.com I live about 1.5 hours away in the Raleigh area and the delivery was pretty reasonable around $50 for some top of the line office furniture. It''s a HUGE place and you''ll need a couple of days to see it all.

 

[MINE!!]

I worked in the Furniture Buz for quite a few years as both buyer and for the verndors. I went to MANY funriture markets in HP and also live nearby. YOU MIGHT be able to find something if you are looking for something... ummm exclusive or out of the ordinary that you cannot find locally. But I will tell you.. from my personal opinion and from what I learned from being in the Buisness... it is a ruse.. a quite good one in fact.. saying that there are bargains here compared to other places.

High POint is called ''the furniture captiol" of the world.. mainly cause of the huge Furniture Markets and convention held twice a year there. But to be honest.. HP is scared cause people have begun to slowly movethe market to LV. mainly because the HP community has been gouging furniture companies and it''s buyers for years. Now with another market it does not cost as much to have a market in LV.

Furniture land south is a place to look. many people are well UNIFORMED about furniture.. just like with diamonds.. Most of the time you are paying for a name.

 

[Odilia]

Thanks for your answers! MINE!!, hope this isn''t a dumb question, but what/where is LV?

 

[Tacori E-ring]

My uncle owns a furniture store and used to go on buying trips to high point every year. Now he says Las Vegas is better.

 

[MINE!!]

Date: 1/2/2006 6:03:33 PM
Author: Tacori E-ring
My uncle owns a furniture store and used to go on buying trips to high point every year. Now he says Las Vegas is better.

Amen.. I loved LV (las Vegas) better. The entertainment value of it is great. But it is not all play and no work at these markets. It is much better organized and the hotels do not try to gouge the attendees.

For exmaple.. in High point during market week, A hotel that would normally cost about 89$ a night, will charge 199.00 per night, plus a service charge of 13% plus tax, plus a hotel charge of 18%. Then they require a 7-10 might minimum. This is not because of the lack of hotels.. it is plain greed. HP resturants pull out market menus.. some of which are 10-20% MORE than everyday menus. They have bled these people for all they are worth.

Vegas you can book as long as you want. Can get a place on the main strip for 79$-100$ and not pay the ''service'' charges like HP. The play there is a bonus but the organization is key. Vegas is the Conference haven and the new Marriot there has done a great job with the new markets... personally, I think it is poetic justice...

 

[Blue824]

A long time ago when my mom was first decorating her house, she fell in love with an armoire/entertainment center kinda thing. It was ridiculously expensive at the store in our area, she called her friend who was a designer who ordered it from a place in North Carolina and even after shipping it was $2000 less than what she kept being quoted locally for the same exact piece.

Maybe it just depends on what you''re looking for?

Honestly, seems like a little too much of a hassle for me to go through to find furniture!

 

[partgypsy]

I wouldn''t characterize going to Highpoint because it is a bargain or cheaper. But you can find very high quality pieces of furniture there at a discount compared to a typical furniture store. Also the selection is huge. A huge proportion of US made furniture is made within 200 miles of High Point. There are single stores there that would take 2 days to walk through (which can be a plus or a minus).
So it isn''t cheap, just that you can find good value by hunting through the stuff. My former coworker''s mom who often went there after the shows has a piece of furniture that was originally $10,000 and got for 2.5K However, you may not need a 10K piece of furniture for your house!
When I went shopping for a couch, I ended up buying over the internet had it shipped to me (NCfurniturehome).

 

[pearcrazy]

I think it used to be the case that the majority of furniture marketed in High Point was made within 200 miles of there but if you check carefully now you''ll find that a bigger and bigger percentage of it is now made in China. I know that we ordered a bedroom suit made by Broyhill that had "made in China" stamped all over the shipping crates when it arrived. My mother''s Bob Timberlake coffee table and end tables were made in China. We bought our bedroom set and office furniture (made in Malaysia) at Furnitureland South but my mom bought her tables from a store in the Atrium in High Point.

 

[MINE!!]

Date: 1/3/2006 2:00:46 PM
Author: part gypsy
I wouldn''t characterize going to Highpoint because it is a bargain or cheaper. But you can find very high quality pieces of furniture there at a discount compared to a typical furniture store. Also the selection is huge. A huge proportion of US made furniture is made within 200 miles of High Point. There are single stores there that would take 2 days to walk through (which can be a plus or a minus).
So it isn''t cheap, just that you can find good value by hunting through the stuff. My former coworker''s mom who often went there after the shows has a piece of furniture that was originally $10,000 and got for 2.5K However, you may not need a 10K piece of furniture for your house!
When I went shopping for a couch, I ended up buying over the internet had it shipped to me (NCfurniturehome).

Unfiortunately this isn''t exactly true.. the 200 miles thing. MOSt of the Furniture is now made over seas. there is really only 3 big furniture manufactors IN NC now.. oone being in Smithfield. Within the past 8 years most Furniture was outsourced to China.. I would say about 80%. Although in the past the idea of within 200 miles was true... it not so anymore.

 

[Odilia]

Thanks everyone for all the helpful info.!

Someone else also mentioned www.furniturelandsouth.com ; they were the ones who took a trip from PA to that store and got a good bedroom set, which they said was about $500 - $800 less than they would have paid in PA for something comparable. I will have to look into that. Although as someone mentioned, it does seem like a bit of a hassle to go through to find furniture. (Although easier than going to Vegas from D.C.!

)

Does furnitureland south have a variety of styles, or mainly one style, or what? What airport is closest to High Point? My husband works for an airline, so we can fly free if we can get a seat.

 

[tanyak]

I live in Greensboro, which is 10 minutes away from High Point. The local airport is Piedmont Triad International. However, some people says it''s cheaper to fly into Raleigh or Charlotte, which are both about one hour, 15 minutes away.

 

[fire&ice]

Date: 1/4/2006 11:06:11 AM
Author: tanyak
I live in Greensboro, which is 10 minutes away from High Point. The local airport is Piedmont Triad International. However, some people says it''s cheaper to fly into Raleigh or Charlotte, which are both about one hour, 15 minutes away.

Yeah, the reverse *used* to be true. I could fly cheaper, quicker & with less delays from G''boro. I don''t know what has changed. This past year they have done away w/ some flights & the fares have nearly doubled. But, if you can fly free PTI is the closest airport. There is a smaller on in Winston-Salem - but I don''t know if any of the major carriers fly into there. Charlotte is about 1 1/2 hours. Raleigh about the same.

Furniturelandsouth is huge. To me, it''s confusing - but if you like to see everything under the sun - it''s your destination. The real bargins are the market samples. Identifiying where they go can be challenging.

Consignment shops in your hometown may be a place to get bargins. Like cars, new furniture depreciates quite a bit once it leaves the showroom floor.

 

[recran]

Bustin'' in here as a NC furniture shopper... As I was imagining what I wanted in the interior of our new home as it was being constructed, I shopped a lot for furniture online. I found some stuff I just HAD to see. It was going to be a pain to run the pieces down in Raleigh (several different stores), but I found a store in Baltimore that had them all. (I went there on vacation, so I just took a jaunt over there one morning.) Awesome stuff (Martha Stewart line by Bernhardt and Gramercy Park line by Lane were the things I fell in love with)! I was all curious if the "get it cheaper in High Point" thing was true. So I wrote down the prices from the store in Baltimore. I also asked if they were firm (they were). A couple months later, I went down to High Point to FurnitureLand South. The differences were pretty incredible. Sure, on some pieces, it was a difference of $20. On most of them though, it was hundreds. Total, we saved thousands by ordering from them as compared to ordinary furniture stores. (Oh yeah, I called some local stores and they were charging the same thing the store in Baltimore was.) FLS has awful customer service though... so the next time I bought furniture, I purchased from Rose Furniture (who charges the same thing as FLS and HALF of what a local store was trying to charge for my dining room chairs). RoseFurniture.com Much better customer service. So... what I recommend to people who are out of state and would have to spend $$$ to get to NC to shop: Unless you''re going to the High Point area for another reason, just shop where you are. Check out the big brands (Lane, Bernhardt, Thomasville, etc.) and decide exactly what you want. Get prices from the local people who helped you out. Then call Rose to see what their price + shipping is. Buy from whoever is cheaper.

You can totally buy furniture from NC and never set foot here. Oh, if you do decide to visit High Point, you still have to shop at FLS cuz they have the biggest showroom in the world. But you can shop there and buy elsewhere.

 

[Ann]

I am also a NC furniture shopper.

I always did my homework before hand. I got prices locally and then called NC to compare. Then I flew to NC and drove over to Hickory. I stayed 1 week and bought tons of furniture. Yes, it was cheaper.
I have also done this trip with my sister when she was furnishing her home. I have also bought furniture over the phone. Just 1 month ago I priced a small chest in NC. And, no, it was not worth it to buy in NC. But if you are buying a lot, it is/was worth it.

I had the furniture shipped. (2 different shipments) There are some things to be aware of. I think Thomasville will not do phone sales unless you have been registered in their store within the past yr. Not sure if that policy still exists.

I know I saved $$. One of my friends had an armoire I loved. Locally it was close to $9,000. I bought it at Boyles in Hickory for a little over $6,000. My bar stools were $800. each at the local store, I got them for 650.00 ea. You just have to do your research. I have found my local stores are reluctant to give too much info on a piece. They are aware of shoppers checking prices.
There used to be a book listing all the stores in NC that gave discounts. It was a great tool for me. And having one sales person that you deal with all the time is also the key.

 

[Odilia]

Thanks, everyone for all the tips! It is very helpful.