A trip to Green Front furniture in Manassas VA today

Green Front Furniture is a large, major store in the Wash DC area, and it's been a while since I had been in there, and they carry similar product to my store. Rainy afternoon here on my day off, I decided to go wander around to see what has changed since I was last there and.... pretty much nothing! The store is still in a giant warehouse and furniture is pretty much plopped down anywhere in no particular order on the concrete. There is no "presentation" or effort to really make the furniture appealing, its most like a Costco setting except more disorganized. The store was crowded however, and I was actually surprised how many shoppers there were. This is good and I spent some time just observing husbands and wives explore and listening to their comments. What is most interesting is everyone does the same thing and not a single person was looking for quality - or knowing what quality is. This is how they were all shopping:

1) Look at the piece. "Do you like it?" (spouse says yes or no)
2) Pickup the price tag. Without even looking at the maker, decide if they liked it or the "cheaper" one a few feet over.
3) Test sit it for 15 seconds.

Salespeople were few and far between, I stopped one briefly as I was interested in the Fjord line of chairs which are knockoff of Ekornes Stressless units at about half the price, and asked her how they differed in the build from the Ekornes product? Her reply was "I've never heard of that brand, this is all we carry that looks like this - they're made somewhere in Europe". And then like a flash she was off again. <shrug>

They sure had a LOT of product. If you want to look at a lot of furniture, this is your go-to place in the region. Prices are good, I have to compare them to mine but I think we are about the same. The Hancock and Moore product stands out from some of the other brands by a wide margin, I can recognize the tailoring and build twenty feet away, even when they are mostly just piled on the floor in a heap with Sherrill, Motioncraft, Bradington Young, Omni, Wesley Hall. I think it's hard for consumers to buy a Hancock and Moore product in that kind of display, because it has the highest price tag. Someone has to explain why it costs what it does, and I don't think their sales staff is up to the job on that. Most customers just wandered around on their own and would flag down a salesperson if they had a question, like shopping at Home Depot.

I would LOVE to have that much floor space for display, I'm envious of that. They must have 15x what I have, maybe 20x. Then again, I think they can barely manage it, it's pretty chaotic! Was good to see their operation again, I think you are pretty much on your own as a consumer there, however.

Always enjoy reading your reflections on the industry, Duane.

Availability of information online has really changed the sales experience for me. I can’t think of any product where I head to the store expecting to get useful information from the sales person. Researching it myself is just more reliable, more convenient, lower stress (for both me and the sales person — most will start to sweat if you ask real questions and take them off script).

Of course I trust Keeping Room is a different story. You’re the exception that proves the rule!

I went to the Green Font early in my search for a sofa. They do have a very large gallery; I like having options but sometimes too many choices makes the decision more difficult. I was assigned a shopping assistant, however, she only told me where leather sofas were. She only took me to one leather sofa, I think it was a Universal Furniture model, and was told it was a good price point. They had a few Bradington Young and Hancock & Moore models, but they were a common style and I wanted something more unique. I got the impression they mostly try to sell floor models, but several of them had scratches in the leather.

I also visited Creative Classics in Old Town, which has friendly staff and a nice selection of American Leather products. I'm glad I stumbled across this forum to see Duane's expertise and level of customer service. I'm looking forward to my new sofa arriving in a couple of months.