North Carolina Furniture Outlets? (Jacksonville: 2014, appliances, how much)

[SmtSF]

As part of our move from San Francisco to Jacksonville, we purged most of our very worn out furniture. I went to school in North Carolina and so I know (but have never shopped) the furniture outlets and am wondering if shopping them makes sense if we will be in Jacksonville. Are they really a better deal? Has anyone had experience shopping and shipping or driving a u-haul back? We are in need of sofas, chairs, at least one bed, dining table and outdoor furniture.

Thanks so much!

[fsu813]

Wrong state.

: )

[Florida2014]

We made the horrible mistake of buying brand new furniture in Colorado at a similar "outlet" type furniture store thinking we'd save a bit of money by doing so, as we also purged much of our older furniture prior to our move. Then had it shipped with the rest of our things when we moved here, only to find out the very samefurniture was readily available here. When we opened the boxes one piece was badly damaged and the warranty was not valid due to moving it out of state. The CO store did refund half of our money on the damaged piece but it was an exercise in futility. We had to haul the extremely large boxes and put it all together ourselves, not exactly what you want to be dealing with on top of all of the other fun stuff associated with a move.

My advice - buy everything here, there are tons of good options in and around Jacksonville. Even if you have to pay a bit more it's SO worth the fewer headaches.

I would highly recommend Ashley Furniture - nice looking stuff, reasonably priced and they will deliver and set it up for you for a nominal fee. Costco is also a good option, we bought our washer/dryer there. Their "White Glove" service is a nice perk as they will set it all up for you and remove any old appliances or furniture.

[SmtSF]

Originally Posted by Florida2014

We made the horrible mistake of buying brand new furniture in Colorado at a similar "outlet" type furniture store thinking we'd save a bit of money by doing so, as we also purged much of our older furniture prior to our move. Then had it shipped with the rest of our things when we moved here, only to find out the very samefurniture was readily available here. When we opened the boxes one piece was badly damaged and the warranty was not valid due to moving it out of state. The CO store did refund half of our money on the damaged piece but it was an exercise in futility. We had to haul the extremely large boxes and put it all together ourselves, not exactly what you want to be dealing with on top of all of the other fun stuff associated with a move.

My advice - buy everything here, there are tons of good options in and around Jacksonville. Even if you have to pay a bit more it's SO worth the fewer headaches.

I would highly recommend Ashley Furniture - nice looking stuff, reasonably priced and they will deliver and set it up for you for a nominal fee. Costco is also a good option, we bought our washer/dryer there. Their "White Glove" service is a nice perk as they will set it all up for you and remove any old appliances or furniture.

Thanks for the insight. Will stick with the Jax furniture places.

[Mrs. RH]

FWIW, when we got married (now going on 14 years) we drove down to NC to the furniture outlets. We had shopped and priced everything out in NY and we saved several thousand dollars and that included shipping/delivery to NY. I do remember having to wait several weeks (maybe 6?). If you want brand names, it is certainly worth looking into. I think Furnitureland South has a website that prices things out (or at least some of them).

On a semi-related note: does anyone have experience with Rooms-To-Go? Specifically for kids furniture. Not looking to break the bank but we'll need bedroom sets and probably a guest room set up as well.

[dch123]

I had a positive experience with Rooms-To-Go. My son wanted a very specific style of bunk bed which I couldn't find locally in PA. I don't recall how long it took to get it after I placed the order, but I do remember that it was on time, the drivers were friendly, installation went well (and actually, the installer suggested we reverse the steps which was a great suggestion), the price was good, and the bunk bed has held up very well. I would definitely use them again.

[Leaving4Ca]

I shopped at Furnitureland South and had a wonderful experience. It was white glove delivery to me here in Virginia (I'm sure they would to Florida too). Saved us some money and they also have a different selection than you will find in the local stores. I went to the Thomasville Outlet when I was there - picked up some Thomasville end tables and lamps for a song - we put those in the back of the SUV. There were unique "floor sample" things there too. I felt it was worth the trip - and I will be going for another bedroom set when we finally get to JAX. :-)
Also I should mention that the deliver guys dropped my curio and one of the corners was dinged up - the store sent a repairman and you could not even tell when he was finished!

[jmc912]

There is a DirectBuy club here in Jax. You have to pay a membership fee but you get access to literally thousands of manufacturers and much better pricing. They have everything under the sun-- you could furnish an entire house down to small appliances and sheets with them and the pricing is much better.

For example, a couch we saw at Ashley that we liked was $999 in store and we were able to purchase it at DirectBuy for $488.

It may be worth the cost to look into that, you would probably spend more money driving up to NC and if you need a good amount of furniture the DirectBuy club is worth it in my opinion.

[SmtSF]

Thanks for all of the great tips. This forum has the best participants, with tons of insight and experience. Right now, I'm leaning towards trying out DirectBuy. Discounts and I don't have to go travel far. Sounds like a win win.

[bmfphaedrus]

Just an FYI, before anybody drives long distance or pays a fee to access a store don't under estimate how much furniture stores will negotiate on prices. I recently picked out almost 9k worth of furniture from Ashley and negotiated the price down to $4,200 including tax and delivery.