<p>D1 and husband are moving to Chapel Hill, NC next month. They’ve heard it’s possible to buy furniture from manufacturer’s outlets in High Point or Hickory, NC. Anyone have experience buying furniture here? D heard that you could hire a personal shopper to help you navigate the various showrooms. Is it worth the effort to go to these places? Opinions?</p>
<p>It’s definitely worth it to buy furniture in NC when you get there. As for outlets, sure why not? I’ve never been to an outlet in High Point but I was slightly involved with a mart, meaning a showroom building for the trade shows. We’ve found it’s cheaper to fly to NC - where family is anyway - and buy furniture and have it delivered than to buy here. That includes getting the fabric, etc. you want.</p>
<p>Reading this over, I didn’t answer the question. Sorry.</p>
<p>We have purchased furniture at Furnitureland South in High Point. The personal shopper is provided free of charge. Ours was assigned when we arrived, and she helped us navigate the TONS of furniture they had on the floor. We were very pleased.</p>
<p>In my experience, there are no “outlets.” What you can find are tons of brands at very good prices - no need to wait for a sale. We have also shopped at the furniture mall in Hickory, but we were disappointed the last couple times we stopped there - the last time we actually purchased any furniture in Hickory was in 2005.</p>
<p>So I’m wondering–is all the furniture still manufactured locally, or is it brought in from overseas and just distributed form High Point? It’s hard to imagine that any home grown American industries are still going strong with cheaper labor available just about everywhere, though perhaps the cost of shipping such big items would make it too costly to import them.</p>
<p>It’s a mixed bag. Some is manufactured in the U.S., but some is imported (China, etc). High Point is still the Furniture Capitol - they have the big show every year - but it’s not as furniture-filled as I would have thought. A lot of the small furniture showrooms I used to visit in NC have closed over the years, and I suspect it is because there is less of a local tie with furniture makers than there used to be. I still find it a good place to shop, simply because there is no place in my area where I can see so many styles from so many manufacturers.</p>
<p>We bought furniture from High Point many years ago. Since then, a friend of mine in Atlanta says it was as cheap for them to buy locally because many local retailers would match prices.</p>
<p>We bought in High Point and Hickory in 1996. Several months later, the Commonwealth of Virginia sent us a sales tax bill. They had audited the bills of lading (when the trucks pass through the weigh stations, I guess). Since then we haven’t traveled to buy furniture.</p>
<p>NJ does the same. You do not catch them all but you catch many.</p>
<p>After doing some internet research it looks like High Point is a town with many showrooms much like the design centers in major cities. Is that a correct assumption?</p>
<p>My D will be a NC resident so she’ll probably have to pay sales tax on the items.</p>
<p>Back to your question…it is worth shopping in High Point especially if you have already looked for furniture and can’t find what you really want. These days I would do some internet research beforehand and look through styles and manufacturers to help limit my search. At the big places you get a map and can set off on your own or someone will point you in the right direction. Just write down what room number you’re in and what the item is–otherwise you may never find it again. It is especially great shopping for higher end furniture and custom furniture (fabrics, colors). There were (when we went anyway) great deals on odd pieces (coffee tables, occasional chairs, discontinued items).</p>
<p>Have dimensions ready of your home so you know how much space you have! Bring a tape measure. When we went there was someone to actually help you do some space planning for your furniture. Don’t eyeball things (unless very standard)–in the big showrooms furniture can look smaller than it actually is. I would take my camera phone (nowadays) to take pix as I go through to compare items from different rooms.</p>
<p>I definitely recommend High Point- if you go to Furnitureland South- be forewarned that is massive, and I recommend you have an idea what kind of furniture you want. It was too large to consider a window shopping experience. Rose Furniture was also a nice experience.</p>
<p>Also, Bromfield, there are great furniture makers around here, and not overly expensive.</p>
<p>Your daughter and son in law could get what they want made themselves instead of just going by what is in the store. I prefer this, personally, unless it’s a leather couch or something.</p>
<p>I will PM you tomorrow when I’m near an actual computer. I can’t figure out how to PM from the phone.</p>
<p>To be clear, by “around here,” I meant chapel hill. </p>
<p>Just moved here, but have found some great people through friends.</p>
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<p>It is worth the effort. Don’t pay attention to the price tags. They negotiate.</p>
<p>Oooooo, I wanna go there.</p>
<p>I have bought quite a bit of furniture thru outlets there at quite good prices. If you know what you want and they carry it, you can order it over the phone. Easy. The crazy part is that I am from NC and didn’t know it till I moved to N. Va. I found a bedroom suite that I was crazy about and way over my budget. The salesman in the showroom here told me about getting it from NC! He lost a sale doing that but I was forever grateful.
Boyles Furniture
Furnitureland South
are two that I am more familiar with.</p>