Furniture Consignment Gallery Blog

Every now and again something remarkable happens. That special piece that you have been searching for, that you never thought you would find, hits the showroom floor at FCG. When it does, we have some advice for you. Call us immediately to secure the purchase or ask us to place the item on "HOLD" for you! There are some rules around this, but first let me tell you what happened to us last weekend.  

     A woman left our store extremely unhappy after an item she wanted was sold to another customer. She drove home and posted the following angry message on our store's Facebook page:

"I drove 50 miles (to buy a specific item, only to find that) another salesperson sold the item right out from under me. My saleslady never stuck up for me, supported me, or even apologized to me. I will never do business with Furniture Consignment Gallery as that was not only my first experience but also my last!"

     After investigating the situation, I realized the difficulty of the incident - and we immediately responded to her criticism and offered an apology on Facebook. Here, in part, is what we said:

"Wow - we messed this one up for sure. We don't blame you for being upset... we tripped over ourselves a bit here in trying to accommodate two different buyers. We apologize."

     This all unfolded in our Hanover showroom last Saturday when we were crowded with shoppers. "Excuse me," a customer called. "Do you know how much this ottoman is?" After a quick examination we couldn't locate our glossy blue sale tag anywhere. All of our furniture is supposed to be tagged, so a missing tag can mean a few things: 

• The item might have been sold, but a sales person may not have had a chance to place a "SOLD" sign on it.

• Another shopper may have just pulled off the tag to take it to the check-out counter to buy the item.
  

• Ron, our Sales Manager, swears there is a ghost in the store that plays tricks on us and he believes it messes with the tags; so it could be that too!

     With no clues to the whereabouts of the missing tag, we printed a new one and sold the ottoman. We completely, overlooked the other customer who was clenching the original tag in her hand. Like I said, we messed this one up.

     This is how things sometimes get complicated at the store. Unlike other furniture stores, we don't have ten more in the backroom. And, unlike an auction house, the item doesn't go to the highest bidder. So if you find an item that you have spent your whole life searching for, then it is appropriate to have some urgency! In this case the item in question was a random ottoman that we never thought would cause such a fuss. We underestimated what we know so well to be true and that is that there are a lot of smart shoppers looking for unique pieces. You never know who else is looking at the same item as you; no matter how obscure the piece.

     At Furniture Consignment Gallery we try to keep the rules of engagement as open and unimpeded as possible. In a n effort to keep the process fair and reasonable, we do allow our buyers to place items on HOLD for 24 hours in certain situations to mull a purchase. If someone else wants to buy that piece within that 24-hour period, we'll call the individual who put it on HOLD and ask him or her to make a decision about buying it at that time. That's only fair. We want to provide a stress-free environment for buyers, but we also have a responsibility to consignors who have entrusted us with their furniture. Understandably, they want their items sold as quickly as possible.

There are a few more rules.

• Items are not eligible for a HOLD on the day of a markdown.

• On weekends, we don't put items on HOLD. That's our prime selling time. Scores of buyers will drive to our store to see the furniture. To be fair to them, all the furniture on the showroom floor should to be available for purchase. That said, if you're driving from a faraway place to view an item, we can HOLD it until you arrive. Like I said, we try to be user friendly.
  

• A HOLD lasts only for 24 hours.

• And we are very reluctant to allow a customer to put a HOLD on the same item more than once.

     Sometimes, we have to make difficult decisions when another buyer wants to buy it NOW. We will try to make every reasonable effort to track you down to prompt you for a decision. If we can't, we have no choice but to sell the item. We owe that to our consignors.

     As for the woman who left our store so angry last Saturday, I hope she has seen our apology on Facebook. Pushing our rules of engagement aside, this one was our mistake. I do hope that someday she will give us another chance.

 “Oh, for crying out loud!”  I hung up one phone line and punched another that had been ringing and ringing and ringing. At Furniture Consignment Gallery, our phones start jingling incessantly the moment we open our doors on January 2. Everyone, it seems, suddenly wants to consign a piece of furniture.

And not just any piece of furniture. At this time of year, they are determined – relentless, even – to unload an armoire. Among the presents unwrapped in many homes during the holiday season was a sleek new flat-screen television. So, goodbye, old clunker! And goodbye to the armoire the wife insisted on buying to hide the clunker and all its wires!

No one seems to have a problem hauling that old tv to the dump. But the armoire … heck, lots of folks think that’s got to be worth something on the used-furniture market. That’s when they call me. Here are some of my favorite pitches: 

•  “Jay, I’ve got something you are going to love! See, I’ve got this beautiful solid oak – and I mean SOLID – television cabinet.”

•  “This armoire isn’t just for a television. You could put some shelving in it. That should be pretty easy to do, don’t you think? A couple of boards, a hammer, some nails? Then you could sell it as a closet, right?”

•  “If you can just get out of my home, you can have it. You can sell it and keep the money. Just come and get it – anytime! I’ll tell you where I hide the keys to the house.”

• "My armoire can handle a nice flatscreen. In fact, I just measured the interior and it will actually hold a 27 incher."

Don’t get me wrong. We’re happy that you’ve gotten a new flat screen television, but we need to get one thing straight. We aren’t going to take your armoire on consignment. An armoire is the eight-track tape of the furniture business. (Even Craigslist – furniture mart of the damned – is clogged with them.)

There was a time, a few years ago, when we might have taken an armoire on consignment. They were slow to sell, but a buyer would wander in eventually. Our very first blog post was titled "Can You Sell My Entertainment Armoire" And that was two years ago! The last one we had on the showroom floor was a stunning Stickley white oak armoire for $499. It gathered dust for months. You might remember it as it made our Deal of the Week video production back in May 2011.

Converting an armoire made for a television into a cabinet for clothing is not a task for amateurs. You’d have to hire a carpenter experienced in making quality furniture to get that job done. And don’t count on selling it, afterward. Most folks want their clothing hanging in a closet – not a bulky, space-eating armoire.  

So please don’t be angry with me when I decline your armoire. They are big, they are heavy and they just don’t sell anymore! I hereby declare the age of the armoire is officially over.

Last night was an exciting night for Furniture Consignment Gallery! The Boston Channel ran a featured special on Chronicle, one of New England’s most popular local television programs where they cover the “Main Streets and Back Roads” of New England on a weekly basis. Last night in the heart of January, when we are all hovering around a warm fire, they featured ideas on how to better your home with their “Home Improvement” edition. 

It was interesting from our perspective to view the final product as roughly three hours of filming was condensed to a about a five minute production spoof. Keeping in mind that the show is geared to entertain the Chronicle audience and that it is not a paid for program that is an advertisement, there is more that we want you to know! So if last night’s program made a welcoming introduction to our business, here are some things that you will really like.

For starters the show focused solely on our Route 9 Chestnut Hill location which is situated about 7 miles west of Boston. However, If you liked the types of items that you viewed on the program, we want you to know that we have many similar types of items in Hanover, MA where we have five MORE floors of New England's finest pre-owned home furnishings and accessories. Our Hanvoer store is conventiently located on route 53.

In addition, a key part of our business that has made shopping with Furniture Consignment Gallery so popular is our website www.furnitureconsignment.com where customers can view all of our constantly changing inventory for both our Hanover and Chestnut Hill locations.

We want you to know that there are many great values in our showroom as we indicated in the feature and they can be viewed and monitored in the Final Markdown section of our website. In fact, we just introduced a new website feature in our on-line inventory where customers can elect to track an item on our website and will receive e-mail notifications when an item of interest drops in price.

A big part of Home Improvement is replacing items that no longer fit your lifestyle or the future vision of your home and for those items that may be finding their way to the exit door, Furniture Consignment Gallery is an excellent place to sell items that are no longer needed. We accept gently used, high end, name brand furniture as Diana mentioned in the feature. Our consignors make 55% of the selling price in accordance with our terms and conditions.

The best part about our consignment services is that we offer a convenient and economical pick-up service that allows you to remove beautiful items from your home that are not part of your plan. Our delivery truck runs weekly and if you have items you want to sell, fill out this form and we will get you started. This is a wonderful service for people who are in the midst of a transition period such as moving, downsizing or are experiencing a myriad of other life changing situations.

Inventory moves at a swift pace at Furniture Consignment Gallery. Items do not stick around for long and so if you see something that is right for your home, we advise our customers not to hesitate. Many buyers learn this the hard way. If another customer beats you to the check out counter, it isn’t the end of the world! Another similar item will arrive soon as new items are accepted into our showrooms daily. A convenient way to follow our inventory on a weekly basis is to check the New Arrivals seciton of our website for each store and to sign-up to recieve our weekly newsletter. Our newsletter keeps you in touch with our business and notifies you of all of the newly acquired inventory each week by e-mail.

We are grateful that Chronicle featured Furniture Consignment Gallery in the Home Improvement Edition. There are thousands of other business they could have chosen to interview for the piece in the Boston area. We are glad they picked FCG.

 

See the segment here at Bostonchannel.com

We're about 3:00 mins into this video!

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/video/30191929/detail.html

Sitting at the breakfast table slurping my last spoonful of Honey Bunches of Oats, I felt a breeze behind me, then heard the screech of wheels rounding the corner. Based on the fraction of a second between the breeze and the screech, whatever it was that just blasted through the kitchen was moving fast. I whipped my head around to see my nine-year-old son, Collin, racing down the hallway on his roller blades. "Whoa, whoa, no, no, NO!" I hollered after him. "Not in the house!"  

 

Collin spent a lot of time over school vacation week this holiday with a friend who lives around the corner. Their home is different from ours. They're a hockey family, and we're not talking just tickets to the Bruins. Their house is a rink - with furniture. The kids' rollerblades have worn a groove into the hardwood floors. Doors and walls have weathered more than a few collisions. There might even be some blood. To their credit, our neighbors have raised a brood of great hockey players, but most families choose to put a limit on the amount of fun allowed in the home.

 

Raising kids to enjoy - but also to respect -- your home and its furnishings is a challenge. We've seen the gamut in our clients' homes. Some couples spend thousands on a mahogany dining room set, then let their children race toy cars on its gleaming finish. Conversely, one newlywed couple is wrestling with the decision of how to furnish the living room for this, their second marriage. He doesn't have children; she has three. He wants formal and fancy; she knows the carnage kids can inflict on furniture. If not managed with care, that situation has disaster written all over it.

 

So where is the happy medium? How can you satisfy an adult's need for beauty with a kid's desire for fun? It is not easy, but here are some ideas that may help you figure out a solution:

• Give the kids a few areas in the house where they can be kids. We, as parents, should encourage playtime. Even some roughhousing is healthy. Big or small, some part of your home should be dedicated to fun. And when things get a bit out of hand, as my Mother used to holler to us: "Take it out to the front yard!"

• Create a warm, cozy place in your home where you can come together as a family. A place where everybody is comfortable.  A place where you won't trip over toys. A place where kids can snuggle up with Mom and Dad.

• And, yes, your home should have some special items that are meaningful to your family. Maybe they are costly new pieces that create a certain look. Maybe they are treasured heirlooms passed down from parents or grandparents. One of the responsibilities of parenting is teaching kids to treat special possessions - their own and others' - with respect. My Dad would drive me crazy when he would knock my feet off the coffee table. Somehow he could see the fresh scratch on the wall before entering the home from work. We put our dents in our home, but my brothers and I also learned the valuable lesson of respecting the family's hard earned assets.

And here's one last tip. New furniture can be very costly. But there's an alternative for those who value quality furniture -- while also understanding that indoor rollerblading on rare occasions (and snow days) might be necessary. Shop smart. Shop consignment. If you don't mind a tiny scratch or two, you'll find a great selection of quality pieces at Furniture Consignment Gallery in Hanover and now in Chestnut Hill. They didn't have consignment stores like ours when I was growing up. If there had been, I'm sure my family would have been regular visitors.

Hey this is Christa, your friendly, FCG computer nerd and photographer!

We've had some great new features added to our website recently by our team.We've been on the quest of making the site even more user friendly for all of our valued customers! You may have noticed the red price tags. not only are they snazzy to look at but right underneath that tag we now have the next drop down price and the date it will drop down. That brings me to our first tutorial!

 

TUTORIAL: Email Reminders for Price Drops

This way you can have the computer automatically send you a friendly reminder that that wonderful piece you wanted has dropped to the next price (usually 10% off)! It's really easy to do this:

 

STEP 1: click the button circled in red below that says "Schedule a price drop reminder"

STEP 2. Type in Your name (this helps keep your important reminder out of that automated spam folder)

STEP 3. Type in the email address you would like to recieve the price update to (make sure it's something you check often so you don't miss out on a great item!)

STEP 4. Click the "Set Reminder" button

STEP:5 Click "OK" to confirm the email subscription to the item

STEP: 6 You should see this screen saying you'll recieve an update the day before the price drop and then you can just click the "Close Window" to continue shopping your heart out.

 

TUTORIAL: Email an Item to Yourself or a Friend

The other new feature that you may have noticed in your browsing on our site is the "Email a Friend" button. This little gem will help you email a piece you think would be perfect for that friend or relative without having to copy, paste and send the link from your own email.

 

STEP 1: Click the Purple button that says "CLICK to email This Piece To a Friend"

 

STEP 2: Type your name (so the recipent knows who sent this awesome piece of furniture gold to them and can thank you later for your brillance)

STEP 3: Type the recepient's email

STEP 4: Write a short message it you'd like about why this is right up their alley or leave it blank, whatever you'd like

STEP 6:Click "OK" to send the message on it's way

STEP: 7 Revel in your greatness of finding that perfect thing for him/her and click "Close Window" to return to your shopping bliss.

I'm a great party guest. So when you look down at your Holiday party guest list, think of me and send me an invite! I love all kinds of food and have no problem breaking the ice on a dish in the same way that a ski enthusiast wants to be the first to tackle fresh powder. I drink just enough to laugh a little louder, but won't be the one on the ground demonstrating the proper planking technique for your next visit to the gym (saw this with my own eyes). I enjoy peoples' good company and will chuckle at any attempt at humor. I can even hang in there for a good long while with the guy who has been holstering a year's worth of conversation. I most appreciate a good life-line after thirty minutes of incessant head nodding. The best part about me is that I won't judge your home. Certainly not the way that you do. But I know you are going to judge your home and that's why you want me there. 

You need me there because it's crunch time. This weekend marks the first round of Holiday parties and for the next fourteen days the pressure is on. The time that, as a host, you want your home to look its very best. You want your guests to relax, to feel at home and to have a well deserved night of enjoyment on you.

These moments come at a great expense to, you, the host. Small transactions for cheese plates, holiday napkins, toothpicks and bags of ice, add up quickly. You know ahead of time that the money melts into a puddle with the arrival of the next credit card billing statement. What lasts are the memories, the camaraderie that is gained and the relationships that are mended and solidified. What also perseveres are the more permanent investments that you make to your home to prepare for this grand event. The new lamps, decorative prints, a side table to hold hors d'oeuvres, a buffet server or a decorative accent piece that spruces up a lost corner; those carry on for years to come.

At FCG we plan for these moments. We think of you in your moment of desperate need and know what you need before you know you need it. We are here to be that calming influence that keeps your party in order, the invisible guest that balances the Yin and the Yang. We have exactly the right lamps, the perfect prints and inviting accent furniture for your main event. That is why you would invite me. My address is www.furnitureconsignment.com and my name is FCG.

Somber as undertakers, the couple trekked into our showroom four times in four days. They slipped in through the front door, ignored our cheerful greetings and made a beeline for the section featuring dining-room sets. There, they spent hours grimly examining one particular table and the matching chairs. Our sales associates volunteered their help. The couple brushed them all off abruptly.  

Finally, our most personable – and apparently fearless – associate seized the opportunity as a personal challenge. Ms. Congeniality marched up the staircase to the second floor of our showroom determined to befriend this baffling duo. Downstairs, we took bets on whether she’d get anywhere with “Mr. and Mrs. Meany”.  

“Oh, they aren’t mean at all,” she told us later, after a long chat with the couple. “They are just scared to death.”

Scared? Yes. In fact, they are terrified of decorating their home. Five years ago, the two moved into their home and the place still looks like an vacant warehouse. Paralyzed by fear, they haven’t bought a light fixture for the hallway. The result: a single light bulb dangling from the ceiling.  Walls are bare. Entire rooms are empty.

Now, the holidays are coming and they are looking at the possibility of another graceless meal at the kitchen counter. But the alternative – buying a table and some chairs for the dining room – fills them with abject terror.

We witness such scenes all the time at Furniture Consignment Gallery. Many folks know what they like in furniture, but are afraid their taste is all “wrong.” Some fear making a design mistake with poor choices in color, size or scale. Others search endlessly for the perfect design, without a clear idea of what that might look like.

Often, customers will turn to me and say: “I’m sure your home is beautifully furnished.” Well, the truth is my home is full of the pieces that didn’t sell. There’s a dresser is in our foyer that sat on the showroom floor for over a year; it had been marked down almost to pennies. Finally, I took it home to put it out of my misery. And, believe it or not, we get more compliments on that dresser than almost any other piece of furniture in the house. 

Not everyone has an interior designer on speed-dial. And decorating a bare room can be intimidating. Here are five tips to help you get started:

Break the ice with a small item. Like a sculptor starting with a new block of stone, everything gets easier once you make the first cut. Dive in and buy a lamp or a rug that appeals to you.
After that first decision, things start to fall into place.

Personalize your home. Invest in pieces or furniture or art that matter to you. Loved that safari honeymoon? Display those tribal sculptures and gradually a decorating theme will emerge.  (Think campaign chests and faux fur throws.) Did you inherit a beloved Victorian loveseat from Grandma?  Honor her by using it in your home. How about that sloppy painting your five-year-old hauled home from kindergarten? Frame it! Showcase the personal, the meaningful, and the memorable. That’s the heart of true beauty.

Add some humor to your décor! People are too serious these days. My mom has a sign hanging in her kitchen: “Wine is sure proof that God loves us.” In our own home, my wife and kids have tucked action figures into obscure spots. Those hidden treasures always manage to grab our guests’ attention.  It’s okay to be a bit goofy.  Make your home special for you and your family.

Make a list of what’s important to you. Do you like organization or clutter? Some people feel panicky if things are not in the proper bins. Other feel as though they are in a dentist’s office when things are too orderly.

Relax and look for pieces that make you smile. Your guests can’t help but love a home that reflects a full – and well-lived – life. When my wife, the designer, returns from a job, I typically ask her how things are shaping up at the client’s home. “Good!” she’ll usually say. “It’s not my taste – or yours – but they love it, and that’s what really matters.”

Only a few nights ago, I threw a full-blown tantrum – and I actually think it was justified. Just hear me out. It was 65° -- in the middle of November! -- and I was about to indulge in a guilty pleasure. Our little ones were sleeping and my wife was absorbed in a good book. I slipped off to the kitchen to raid the freezer for my favorite treat. Digging the scoop into the ice cream, I was anticipating the thrill of one last taste of frozen summer when suddenly -- “snap!” I peered into the container in disbelief. My scoop had broken in two. And, yes, I will admit it now. I acted like a two-year-old. What kind of fool would make a utensil so fragile?

A broken scoop wouldn’t derail me under normal circumstances, but I’ve had a bad week with tools and appliances. My new rake fell apart after confronting a small pile of wet leaves. Worse yet, we had to shell out hundreds of dollars to replace our washer and dryer after only four years of service. And those weren’t a happy four years, either.

Ever since we bought those appliances, we’ve had an intimate relationship with the repairman. We had so many breakdowns that first year, we knew his number by heart. By the second year, we were exchanging Christmas cards. After three years, he had his own coffee mug in our cabinet. (Attention, GE: you should be paying attention to this saga.) Much as we loved the guy, we finally threw in the towel last week and ordered a new washer and drier. We’ve been married fifteen years; this is our third set.

I’m frustrated – and I’m wondering how my mother managed to raise three boys with a washer and dryer that, like her, didn’t enjoy a day off for more than two decades. When she downsized to a smaller home, she was bereft to leave them. She knew the trusty duo would be humming away at the laundry for years to come!

As I puttered around my kitchen this morning, the hinges were squeaking on my four-year-old refrigerator. Meanwhile, on the television, a big furniture store was offering customers zero-interest financing for up to four years. I had to wonder how much of the furniture purchased under this program would still be useful when the customer finally paid off the loan. Would the springs be sprung in that sofa by the time the final bill got paid?

We live in a disposable society. Appliances are built with parts that fail after a couple of years of use. Rakes can’t handle a few wet leaves. Even a simple scoop snaps in half when it meets the challenge of frozen ice cream. The solution is obvious. Treasure the well-made products of those few manufacturers who understand the importance of reliable service. Come visit us at Furniture Consignment Gallery. Our showrooms in Hanover and Chestnut Hill are filled with furniture that’s stylish, classic – and built to last.

Interior designers are among our most valued clients at Furniture Consignment Gallery. They provide an excellent service that can make your home more attractive, more comfortable, and in some cases more valuable.   

 

We’re all for the do-it-yourself trend of home improvement, but visualizing the best use of space and color is a rare gift. Some folks can successfully decorate their homes for practicality and comfort, but a designer is a godsend when it comes to creating rooms with professional polish and style.

 

A good designer will save you money and heartache, preventing you from making costly mistakes and helping you work within a budget. And here’s a little-known secret: a designer can save your marriage. Who else can summon up the courage and the diplomacy to tell your husband that his beloved red leather recliner just isn’t going to work in the living room? Or tell your wife that the look is important, but your room still has to be comfortable and functional.  There is often a difficult balance to strike.

 

We see that kind of magic happen in our store everyday. Our in-house, ASID certified interior designer has the talent to combine the unique, pre-owned items on our showroom floor with your treasures, add a dash of something new and make your dreams come true – all within your budget. 

Boston’s leading designers are catching on to the consignment phenomenon. Last week, I was working with a successful designer who told me it is imperative to discuss cost-saving options like consignment furniture with clients.  “Budgets are tighter these days,” she said. “New furniture is very expensive. Even the wealthiest clients would be unwise to spend all their money at the design center.”

She says she gains tremendous credibility with clients when she suggests some pre-owned options for furniture, rugs, mirrors and even lamps. In the end, clients may opt to buy new or custom-built, but she believes that giving them the choice shows she is working hard to stay within budget. “It builds trust,” she said – and that may be the most important thing in her portfolio.

A handsome couple strolled into our new Chestnut Hill Furniture Consignment Gallery. They appeared stylish and well-to-do, judging from their apparel. Clearly, the wife was on a mission to complete a decorating project, while the husband had the pained and weary look of a man for whom furniture shopping held all the appeal of a root canal.

Then, he spotted it.

What caught his eye was no ordinary piece of furniture. This was a Bradington Young, a recliner designed for masculine comfort. Big and muscular in its proportions, the chair was made from a chestnut leather so buttery soft that it sang a siren song to every man who drifted into its orbit: “Beer! Cigar! Sports Center!”  

Unable to resist, the husband circled the chair, examining it closely as he stroked the gleaming leather. Then, he settled into the recliner with a sigh as if he already owned it.

“Get out of the chair,” his wife said tartly, with barely a glance in his direction. “That’s not what we’re here for.”  

He tried quickly to assemble an argument to win her over. “I like this chair!” he announced. “In fact, it’s nicer than the one I have!” He reached down to examine the price tag: $1,299 – for a recliner that typically commands a much higher price at retail.   

Stunned, he turned to me, and asked slowly, “So this is consignment? This chair … it looks like new. Somebody owned it and now they are selling it? I can’t believe the price!” He went from first gear to fifth in an instant as he mentally calculated the savings. He leaped out of the chair and began examining everything in the store.

At that moment, I knew we had gained another loyal customer.  We specialize in quality furniture consignment. That’s a concept that’s challenging for some buyers – until they see the extraordinary values in high-end furniture in our showroom. Our new store, Furniture Consignment Gallery on Route 9 in Chestnut Hill, is gaining momentum every day.

And winning converts like that man makes my job all the more fun.