HAVE IT ALL: Darvin Clearance & Outlet Center offers new options for quality, style – and price
By Hanny Diab
Merchandising Manager, Bedding & Outlet
Maybe one of the best indicators of the continually growing demand for furniture in the U.S. is the existence of the Darvin Clearance & Outlet Center. I search the global market place which offers thousands of options to select the products featured in the Darvin Furniture Clearance & Outlet Center.
The Darvin Clearance & Outlet Center is located on the second floor of our Orland Park showroom. And it’s big – offering more than 35,000 square feet. Unlike many other Outlet stores and departments, visiting our Clearance & Outlet Center does not mean giving up on quality or fashionable furnishings in order to get an affordable price. In fact, I take great pride in being able to say: You can have it all.
Have It All
A recent survey by Fung Global Retail & Tech indicates that U.S. homeowners are once again spending with confidence on their home furnishings. Consumer furniture and bedding expenditures in the U.S. exceeded $102 billion in 2015 with expectations for continued growth through 2020. Clearly, Americans love their furnishings and are willing to spend hard earned dollars to own items that offer attractive style – as well as provide value.
In addition to style and value, the survey stated the U.S. furniture market in 2016 showed considerable focus on quality and durability. It makes you wonder, if Americans are really focused on the quality of their home furnishings, how do they afford to buy such durable goods? Maybe quality doesn’t have to be a trade-off for price?
Since all U.S. homeowners’ budgets are not the same – nor are the types and styles of furniture they desire – it must mean that it is possible to have both quality and value pricing. One thing is for certain, the survey data showed U.S. consumers are looking for quality and durability when purchasing their furniture.
In order to have an affordable price, you do not have to settle for lesser quality furnishings. You can have it all: Quality, Style and Great Prices.
In a marketplace where retail furniture outlets sell their goods based solely on price point, sometimes it is hard to get the message out that in order to have an affordable price you do not have to settle for lesser quality furnishings. You can have it all: Quality, Style and Great Prices.
Having been in business for 97 years, our customers are generational, we have three generations of families shopping with us and it is important to have something for everyone’s tastes – and their budget.
The Outlet Center
Located on the second floor of the Orland Park showroom, the Darvin Outlet Center is actually a store – within a store. When I am looking for items for the Outlet Center, I look for items that are wood construction. Many discount outlets offer particle board construction with paper laminate that resembles wood. But it is not wood and it will not hold up over time the way a wood-based piece might.
Often the Darvin customer shopping in our Outlet Center is a younger customer, maybe a Millennial starting to buy for their first home, people looking to furnish a second home, or middle-aged parents ready to downsize, this is where they start. Whether it is furniture or mattresses, my challenge is to have items in the Outlet Center that might appeal to a younger couple who likes what they see and can afford a quality piece. This helps to introduce them into the Darvin family.
The Darvin Experience
I believe if you can introduce young couples to Darvin’s commitment to quality and affordable pricing, as they get older and their income increases, they can afford something better. This is how we want to ‘grow’ our Darvin family of customers.
A big part of the Darvin experience is never selling that young couple something that could fall apart in a few years. Another part of the experience is trusting that Darvin will always take care of you. While competitors may offer similar looking pieces, their customer service experience will never equal Darvin.
Clearance Items
Located on the second floor, adjacent to the Outlet Center, the Clearance section adds another level of value for virtually anyone visiting the Darvin showroom in Orland Park. Populated by outstanding values for discontinued or former floor model furnishings, nicked or scuffed items from the warehouse, customers will find our loss often becomes someone else’s gain. When furniture displayed on the showroom floor is replaced with new product, whole rooms will move up to the Clearance section. There is always a value to be found up there.
Darvin Furniture has never been one dimensional. We are not focused solely on price, look or quality – my focus is offering all of it. At Darvin you truly can have it all.