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Picking up sticks
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September 4, 1999: 8:30 a.m. ET
When furniture shopping, many avid buyers head South for bargains
By Alex Frew McMillan
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Wilhelmina Lawson and her husband, Bill, had a farmhouse to fill with furniture when they moved into a new home in Plymouth, Mich. So it didn't seem that crazy this May to travel 600 miles to another state to pick out a chandelier, a McKinley leather office chair and a wicker plantation chair.
Half the 144 people who joined them on the 727 they flew from Detroit Metro Airport down to Hickory, N.C., for their shopping spree picked up pieces of furniture, too. They touched down, took off for the Hickory Furniture Mart, then headed back to Motor City the same day.
"It was quite intense," Wilhelmina Lawson said, but well worth it, literally. "The furniture markup is ludicrous, as we all know." She figures she saved 40 percent on the $2,000 or so she spent. Others made out better -- though, as she puts it, a bargain is a bargain only if it's worth what you pay for it, and you like it. Or maybe if your neighbors like it. "One woman bought a $9,000 secretary. It's gorgeous. I covet her secretary," she said.
Bill Lawson is 6' 7" and 280 pounds, and often needs unusual furniture. He found it. "I'm not a shopper, really," he said, "but I'm sitting in a mahogany and leather chair now." The Lawsons organized the trip at $175 a head for the Nomads, a Detroit travel group that's pretty unusual in that it owns its own plane. Their first-ever trip devoted to shopping instead of travel or history sold out so quickly they hastily put on another charter the same week.
Furniture shoppers head to its heartland
But they're not alone. People from all over the country charter flights, buy cheap airline tickets, drive U-Hauls, heading to furniture's heartland, flocking to the South for cheap deals.
Kate Gladchun, who wrote The Fine Furniture and Furnishings Discount Shopping Guide, leads trips of furniture shoppers twice a year. There are great bargain spots for furniture in Tennessee, Virginia and South Carolina, she pointed out. But North Carolina has the most destinations, three-quarters of the 350 or so spots she picks out in her book. It also has her favorite spots.
"I've probably been there 20 times," she said. "But I'm still enthralled every time I go." She likes the Hickory Furniture Mart in particular because it has 100 galleries under one roof, with outlet stores from big names in upscale furniture such as Henredon, Drexel Heritage and Century. It gets 400,000 visitors a year.
But tempers fray when you ask which is better, Hickory or High Point. It's kind of like the argument over who's barbecue is better. In any case, around 60 percent of the nation's furniture is manufactured within 200 miles of the two North Carolina cities.
A heated difference of opinion
"We're in High Point, which is heralded as the furniture capital of the world," said Jason Harris, vice president of sales and marketing for Furnitureland South. "Even with all their stores, they're [Hickory Furniture Mart] not as big." Plus you have to deal with different sales people in each store in the mart and different shipping, he said.
"We have the best selection, quality and value," said Jane Earnest, marketing manager of the Hickory Furniture Mart, which says it is bigger than Furnitureland, when you count all four floors. "We have everything that High Point has but under one roof."
So which city is better? "Hmmm, that's a tough one," said Steve York, not surprisingly circumspect since he's director of marketing for Ikerd Enterprises, which owns Catawba Furniture Mall in Hickory and The Atrium mall in High Point. "You'd be hard pressed to say."
Half the people prefer one, half the other, according to Anita De Cecco, who has arranged charter flights that take in both for Ambassadair Travel Club in Indianapolis. They both have competition from nearby Cannon Village in Kannapolis, N.C.
Think of the money you spent…er…saved
De Cecco likes Hickory and has been there five times herself. "I'm a good shopper," she said, rather breathlessly. "I'm a bargain hunter. I really like nice things, but I don't like to pay for them."
In August, she snagged a $99 e-saver on USAirways and flew in with her fiancé Saturday morning, back on Sunday to shop for furniture. She picked up a 114" cherry table, 10 chairs, an entertainment center and a granite-topped buffet, and apparently they're to die for. She also saw the same buffet, which cost her $2,700, for $4,200 in a Lazarus department store. Which only adds to the thrill. "It's a dark cherry, beautiful," she gushed.
De Cecco spent $12,000 in all. "I've never spent money like this on furniture in my life," she explained, but she's got a new house to furnish, and think of the money you save.
Actually, she admitted, most of the furniture is high-end. And while there are some modern pieces amid a huge selection, most of the furniture is hardwood and heirloom or classic in style. If you just want a new recliner or veneer furniture, stay home, she recommends, because people who aren't into serious furniture complain they can find cheaper stuff. "But people who are, like, serious furniture buyers are, like, 'Oh My God!'," De Cecco said.
Like De Cecco, Gladchun thinks half the fun of traveling to furniture shop is finding the bargains. She once found a Henredon bench that retailed for $1,000 marked down to $70. "Did I buy it? Of course," she said. "Did I need it? No. Where is it now? In my bedroom."
Furnitureland South, which is actually just outside High Point in Jamestown, sells itself as the biggest furniture store in the world. Around three quarters of its customers come from out of state, questing for furniture.
"It's one of the last big-ticket items out there that you can really do your homework and save money on," said Harris, the son of Furnitureland's founder. "We try to keep it low-profile, but I guess you can't really keep the light under the basket."
The days of easy bargains are waning, he said, thanks to pressure from retailers nationwide, who are furious that the manufacturers undercut them. More and more manufacturers have minimum retail pricing policies, he said. But bargains still can be had, particularly from outlet stores, which often carry the company's name but aren't owned by it, and with showroom sample pieces, canceled orders or discontinued lines.
Some tips on how to shop if you do go
Customers also save on state sales tax in North Carolina if they take the furniture out of state, though technically they're often supposed to pay it when they get home. Few do. The issue is in litigation, but Harris pointed out his store does it by the book and it's up to customers to report it.
Few manufacturers sell directly to the public, though Thomasville Furniture has its own factory store. To mute complaints from retailers in other states, many of the North Carolina discount stores won't take orders over the phone unless you've registered personally in the store, within the last 90 days or so.
So if you're in the market for some serious furniture, check your travel schedule. Gladchun recommends scouting your local prices and thinking about what you're looking for. "Do your research, look around, have your floorplans [with you]," she suggested. Bring swatches of fabric you might want to match.
You can get your furniture custom made, play designer, outfit whole houses, she said. (For rugs, she plugs Zaki Oriental Rug in High Point). Though there are lines you can't buy in North Carolina because they're new on the market nationwide, the selection is normally great, she said. She's often found more styles and more pieces in a particular style than she's able to find in regular retailers.
"You see furniture that you don't always see going into your local furniture store," Gladchun said, and she figures to save 40 percent to 50 percent on retail. It's the high shrine of furniture, the holy grail. Maybe you could pick those up, too, while you're at it. "It's an incredible amount of furniture you can see," she said. "It's really an incredible experience." 
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