Furniture First welcomes new members Stacy, Bowen

Furniture Today Staff //Staff Editors//December 4, 2014

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Furniture First buying group has added new members Stacy Furniture & Design of Grapevine, Texas, and Bowen Town & Country Furniture of Winston-Salem, N.C.

“Like most Furniture First member stores, these are family-owned businesses that serve their community by standing behind their merchandise and offering stellar service,” the group said in a release.]

The additions bring the national buying group’s membership rolls to 212 retailer stockholders, with 450 stores in 47 states.

Stacy Furniture & Design was founded in 1975 as a wholesale furniture business, and today, the upscale retailer operates four stores in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

Bowen Town & Country started in 1956 “and takes pride in supporting many manufacturers of American-made products,” the group said.

Furniture First requires members to be full-line independent retailers that have been in business for more than five years, although the average age of member businesses is more than 45 years. Stores also are required to have good credit and meet minimum volume requirements.

Most members serve the middle market. In most cases, the buying group is geographically exclusive so members are rarely in direct competition with each other, which adds a willingness to share and collaborate.

In Dallas, Furniture First has an existing member in Freed’s Homefurnishings,but in markets with more than 1 million people, “we can have more than one member,” said Heather Dickinson, communications coordinator for the group.

Separately, Furniture First said it will move to a new showroom in the World Market Center, space A-810, for the Jan. 18-22 Las Vegas Market.