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lorila_gw

Trip to North Carolina?

lorila
15 years ago

We are building a home and plan to buy a house full of furniture. Is it worthwhile to make a trip to North Carolina? We are looking at lines sold at Baker (Barbara Barry, Jacques Garcia) which are currently on sale at 40% off. How does the North Carolina furniture trip work? Is there a specific place to go? Thanks from an amateur (but getting quite an education).

Comments (9)

  • emilynewhome
    15 years ago

    Go to www.hickoryfurniture.com they are having a 4 day Labor Day sale with shop and stay packages starting at $79.
    I just received their online flier. They have these deals throughout the year and will email you upcoming dates.
    I have not taken advantage of them yet (house not finished) but I believe someone from here recommended them in earlier post.

  • casajakada
    15 years ago

    It's definitely worth a trip to Hickory, especially for a house full of furniture. The best thing to do is to make sure you have copies of your home plans, pictures of the rooms showing window placement, doorways, arches, etc. Paint chips, rug samples and swatches of any fabrics already being incorporated or that you'd like to use in your new home are also helpful. I was very fortunate to find a few really good salespeople and started working with them on pricing items ahead of time. We were there for three full days and used every minute available to us.

    We stayed at the Holiday Inn Select which is either brand new or recently renovated, very clean, comfortable and spacious. Much more upscale than I would have expected for Holiday Inn. They offer a discount card good at many of the stores at HFM, which is actually worthwhile along with a breakfast buffet, not just Continental breakfast. I was happy we took advantage of that because every day was filled with shopping from beginning to end.

    You can map out your planned shopping itinerary by visiting the HFM website, it shows you where all the stores are, too. Boyles has some of the best discounts by far from my own personal experience. For instance, one piece which was approx. $1400 at 3 other stores, was $779 at Boyles. This wasn't a fluke, it held up with many other pieces we bought from Boyles. Plus, they charge the same for delivery no matter how many pieces you buy. If you have any other questions, let me know. We also found Mitchell Gold & Bob Williams, along with Hickory Park Furniture Galleries to have exceptional service, selection and pricing.

    Kate

  • teddas
    15 years ago

    I too have shopped at NC. It is very much worth it to drive/fly there. You will need a car. It is easy to find a hotel. No need to stress, it is actually very easy. I went to furniture land south(www). It is huge!!!
    They also have clearance places to shop at. You may or may not pay tax depending on where you live. MAKE SURE you take comfortable shoes AND a stroller for smaller children. (Preferably you will get more done without them!)
    I will outfit my whole new home from NC. It is just so much to chose from that you almost neeed to know what you want or a person could get overwhelmed!
    Good luck

  • teddas
    15 years ago

    I also meant to mention that at FLS, make sure you register with a salesperson becuase you can call them from home and get pricing over the phone. (After you return home and find something local that you like, just get the sku number and maker and then NC can give a quote.)

  • cruzangirl
    15 years ago

    I have been buying furniture from NC for over 12 years. Originally, the NC dealers would sell at the very lowest price--as much as 30-50% off retail stores. But then most manufactures instituted "minimum retail pricing." So in order to sell their lines, retailers were forbidden from selling below the minimum retail pricing. (I'm not a dealer--this is just what dealers told me). So for a while retail stores were competative with NC.

    However, I found that if you have established a relationship with a NC furniture dealer they will in fact sell lower than the minimum pricing--they just won't admit it. They won't quote those prices over the phone but they will in person.

    If you are buying a whole house, it is worth a trip. But set up an appointment in advance with a sales person. If you do they will set aside the entire day for you. At a large store, you will need it. I have used Carolina Interiors in Kannapolis, NC over 4 times. They sell the high end lines like Baker at a significant discount. I bought a Babara Berry bed from them for 40% off. They also ship carefully. I sent friends there who did make the trip to buy about $30,000 worth of furniture. They estimated they saved 30-40%, even with shipping.

    I do not recommend Furniture Land South. They are big and sell mostly middle priced brands but everything I ordered from them arrived damaged and they did nothing. I later learned that they don't unwrap and blanket wrap their shipments--they simply ship them in the container. So if you have a problem, they blame the manufacturer. If you are looking for items like Baker, I would recommend setting up an appointment at one of the following:

    Carolina Interiors
    115 Oak Ave.
    Kannapolis, NC
    704-933-2261

    Boyles Furniture
    5700 Riverdale
    Jamestown, NC
    910-812-2200

    Rose Furniture
    916 Finch Ave
    High Point, NC
    910-886-6050

    Hope this is helpful!

    Cruzangirl

  • lorila
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Thank you all for your insights. If I could ask a follow-up question (while looking into flights to NC) it is this: when you order furniture from NC, how do you handle custom fabric? For example, a Jacques Garcia bed we are looking at requires a fabric headboard and footboard. Do you pick and order the fabric ahead of time and bring it with you? Or can the furniture showrooms coordinate the fabric? Thanks again.

  • catherine_l
    15 years ago

    I saved tons of money in NC. Rose Furniture is now closed, unfortunately.

  • casajakada
    15 years ago

    In regards to your question about fabric, you should contact a couple of the showrooms and ask about their individual policies. I had dining room chairs done with fabric that was my own but not all manufacturers will allow this. If you don't have the fabric yet, you might want to wait until you get to NC as there are a couple showrooms that carry some of the most beautiful fabrics I've seen and at great prices, too. Most of them were at least 60 to 70% less than I had priced elsewhere. They will handle the delivery of your fabric to the manufacturer, also. Hope all this info helps, if you have any other questions, feel free to email me with them.

    Anne

  • moremoremore
    15 years ago

    I live in NC now and still bought stuff from Furniture Land South...I found there prices good...Boyles is the most overpriced place there is imo...even some of the places in the Hickory Mart are no bargain...I got a much better price from FLS than I did from the Hickory store (it was a piece of Martha Stewart/baker)....when I lived in NY I'd go see a piece in person and then call FLS...I never had an issue with damage...and if it is, reject it on the spot...that said, I would still take a trip..not only is it fun and getting cooler down here this time of year, there really is A LOT to see in one place....Some of the best deals are at the outlets...amazing deals, really...don't get me started on the Mitchell Gold Outlet! Yum!