Monday Musings..
I have discounts with more than half a dozen online retailers, but I still prefer to shop for furniture and decor in person.
I know part of this has to do with my time in college when I browsed the Bombay Company on my lunch break and loved shopping the clearance shelves at the Pier 1 near my home.
Shopping is a sensory experience. I want to see all the colors, touch the fabrics, listen to music, and sit on the furniture.
I’m sure it’s also due to the first couple years after college when I worked for Capperella Furniture, where I met my husband. I loved rearranging the displays and accessorizing. I voiced my ideas to the owners about getting new flooring, changing walls, and rearranging things in the showroom. We once moved an entire rack of rugs (heavy rugs) because I knew that it would work better for showing them to customers. I was always thinking about how to improve the buyer’s experience. Fortunately for me, it was a second-generation family-owned company and they were open to opinions and ideas from their employees. I grew so much during my time in that job.
It’s nice to be able to shop from the warmth and comfort of your home, 24/7. But I still say that nothing can touch that store experience.
A few years ago when we went to Las Vegas Market, I let myself dream – to really imagine what it would be like to have my own shop.
Opening a retail store seems like a recipe for disaster in this digital age, but I still can’t help wanting to do it.
What do you think? I know I’m not alone in the way I feel about shopping. Which do you prefer, and why? Do you think there’s still a place for retail home stores when we can “click to buy” and have it delivered to our porch within a week?
