Paid for by Furniture Fair
Furniture shopping can be fun, but it can also be frustrating if you aren’t sure what you want, are struggling with a budget, or are greeted by overzealous salespeople who follow you around the store as you browse.
Originating six decades ago in Erlanger, Kentucky, just across the river from Cincinnati, Furniture Fair now has seven locations in Cincinnati, two in Dayton, two in Louisville and one in Indianapolis, which opened in March 2024. This month marks the one-year anniversary of the 60,000-square-foot Furniture Fair showroom located at County Line Road and Emerson Avenue in Greenwood. Selling a curated collection of furniture for every room and occasion, customers can outfit their entire home in furnishings that combine style, comfort and affordability.
“If a family frequently eats meals together at home, having a really nice dining room table is important to them so they would want to choose a ‘best’ dining room table,” says Nick Daniels, director of sales for Furniture Fair. “But if they rarely use their basement, they may want to save a little money outfitting their basement with ‘good’ furniture selections.”
Furniture Fair’s on-site Design Center enables consumers and designers to design a space so they can envision the layout of their home when incorporating their new furniture. For no extra cost to the customer, a space-planning expert comes to your home to measure your room(s). They then set up a personalized appointment in the store where they propose several options for what will work best in that particular space, taking into consideration furniture selection, color coordination and spatial planning. The design consultant points out factors the customer likely hasn’t thought of, like how end tables, cocktail tables, accent chairs and different corner pieces might serve to complete the room and give it the functionality it needs. It’s not unusual for customers to initially feel overwhelmed when furniture shopping, so they appreciate the guidance from seasoned experts.
“They’re nervous and they feel like before they spend X amount of money, they want to make sure it will work in their home,’” Nick says.
When it comes to furniture selection, sometimes customers believe they should pick the biggest sectional because they saw it on HGTV, but that’s not always the most functional option. Megan [last name withheld] was pleased by the team’s helpful advice and low-pressure sales at Furniture Fair.
“I don’t like to shop around and I don’t like people trying to sell me things,” she says. “I chose to do business with [the Furniture Fair staff] because they listened to what I wanted and gave me space. Because of that, when I came back to order my sectional, I added a bed frame and two other small accessories to my furniture purchase.”
Furniture Fair has professionally trained in-house delivery teams – one that brings in your new furniture and another that carries out your old pieces. That’s a distinct advantage over many competitors.
“It’s a lot of cost for us to maintain our own delivery staff and own trucks, but from a quality-control standpoint, our customers know that anyone coming into their home has been drug tested and background checked,” Nick says. “Consumers are increasingly starting to recognize this as a value.”
“We understand that there are a lot of places where you can buy a sofa or a bedroom set, but we go the extra mile for our customer,” adds Craig Daniels, marketing director for Furniture Fair. “We make sure that the beginning, middle and end of the buying process is exceptional by using our own people and standards each step of the way.”
In an industry that’s traditionally slow to react to change in technology, Furniture Fair has always embraced technology in order to provide a better and more convenient experience for the customer. If you’re in the market for a new mattress, for instance, Furniture Fair’s Sleep Center has an exclusive bedMATCH® machine, which measures a customer’s body and compares it to thousands of people with a similar body type to suggest a mattress that will help you rest soundly.
“With mattress stores having 30 to 50 options, by the time you try a couple dozen of them, your head is spinning,” Nick says. “This gives a customer a good starting point of what might help them sleep the best without having to test a bunch of beds.”
The sales team always carries iPads, which allows each member to access a product database at the touch of a finger, rather than having to visit a kiosk to check inventory, look up product information or search for expected delivery dates for items.
“The checkout process in furniture stores used to be really long and drawn out, a bit like purchasing a car,” Nick says. “We’ve expedited that process.”
The Furniture Fair team is committed to being a good community partner, so they support several organizations in Indianapolis including Operation Backpack and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
“We know that furniture is the third-largest purchase people tend to make,” Nick says. “Trust is a big factor in spending that amount of money. People think, ‘If you’re supporting organizations that mean a lot to me, then you’re probably a trustworthy business.’ Sponsoring these organizations has been an important way for us to communicate our values.”
From the very beginning, Furniture Fair has always been focused on giving back.
“Our community is the heart and soul of our business, and we want to ensure that we support people where we can,” says Craig. “The city of Greenwood has been great and the community has been so receptive. We’re very excited for our future in the Indianapolis market.”
Furniture Fair’s Greenwood showroom is located at 8850 South Emerson Avenue in Indianapolis. For more information, call 317-215-7222, or visit furniturefair.net/pages/greenwood to schedule an appointment.
