I was closed last Friday, it was Freshman Orientation at Longwood University in Farmville VA where my son Alex will be attending in the fall, and that small town is also the home of mega-furniture store Green Front Furniture - which occupies half of Main Street in (12) buildings. My wife and I sat through the morning lectures at Longwood, but by 2 pm it was just mindless drivel for the parents while all the Freshman were making out their schedules. We knew we have three hours before our son was ready to go, so we cut afternoon classes and went in search of the famous Green Front store I've heard to much about. I've always wanted to see their facility but its a 3 hour drive from my store so I have never got around to going there all these years.

Farmville is a clean-clean-clean little town. Its old, but its kept up very well. There is no trash anywhere on the streets. The light poles have fresh paint. There are no weeds coming up through the brick sidewalks. Its clear the residents and town manager take pride in their town and it shows. Green Front has a lot of buildings, and if you walk it all in a loop and visit every one you'll burn up a mile of shoe leather easy. Ladies, wear your flats. Its loosely organized by galleries and the amount of inventory in the stores is staggering. I simply cannot believe how much merchandise is on on the floor. Has to be in the several millions of dollars, all ready to go.

What strikes you right off the bat are three things, other than the volume of goods:

1) Its not climate controlled.
2) There are no elevators
3) There is no merchandising

1) Without heat in the winter or AC in the summer, there are probably only 30 days a year I'd want to go there. A sunny 65 degree days would be about right. Its mostly old storefronts and warehouse buildings, and they have massive fans to push the air around. But it was 80 degrees there last Friday and simply too hot. My wife and I were a sweaty mess and she packed it in by the time we got to building 8, saying "There is dust blowing all over me and I'm sticky and sweaty, this is no way to look for furniture with those big fans blowing my hair straight up." So she waited outside for me in the park under the trees that was nearby. I can't imagine how chilly it would be in there on a rainy November day.

2) There are four floors on some of those buildings. And they are warehouse floors, which mean tall ceilings and long staircases to climb. Believe me when I tell you that unless you have your workout clothing on and want to get a Stairmaster workout in the heat, you won't visit very floor in every building.

3) I am stunned by how they display their wares. So much money in inventory and its all piled up helter-skelter. There is no attempt at making a pleasant shopping environment just product dumped in the first available empty space and left there until it sells. Thousands of rugs just piled on the floor, too. Ugh. Most working warehouses are organized better. It's too bad, too....because with some effort they could have a really nice display in their place. My wife said "I would never shop here, I'm at the stage of my life where I'm not going to root around for a bargain like I'm at Goodwill." I agree, too.

Other things I noticed. They are not computerized and there does not seem to be inventory control tags. I wonder how they keep track of everything? Most curious. Prices were all over the board. Some were just average, and occasionally there was something that was a killer deal. One that sticks in my mind was a red leather Southwood # 1676 Sofa that was priced at $ 1,699. That's about half of what it should be priced at. I also saw a H&M leather recliner in their clearance center for $ 699 that was a great deal. Mostly though, their Boneyard was mostly oddball stuff that they got stuck with when they bought a showroom from Market at High Point. Lots of marks and light damage on many pieces, they're not babied in that store.

It was an interesting experience. Glad I went. I can't see ever going there to shop furniture unless you wanted to simply see thousands of pieces and were willing to invest an entire day searching for a bargain. If you go, wear your walking shoes and dress for the prevailing weather! Skip the middle of summer, definitely.