[Vinny]

I just bought $4K worth of furniture due in November. It is all motorized recliners in sofa, chair and loveseat. I was hesitant to buy such furniture but I was told not to worry as Showcase Direct would handle any problems with the manufacturer. I paid $500 plus tax more for the furniture than if I bought online. I did not buy online because of past bad experience in dealing directly with a furniture manufacturer when my furniture store went bankrupt. As an individual I had no clout with them and they refused to do anything.

I am thinking why pay more money if the store will not be here anymore. Might as well cancel and either order online and save a substantial amount of money or buy from another local store who can service me.

There is also the issue of what happens to the extended warranties they sell and say if you do not use it, you get store credit for what you paid for it. If they are not around, I do not see any way to get store credit, do you?

My current furniture is fine so there is no need for me to buy from a store going out of business again. Whenever I have done that in the past it usually did not turn out good. Ever call up an extended warranty insurance company and be told that they have no record of your extended warranty? All I had was a one line item on a receipt for a store no longer in business and they would not accept that. Live and learn.

My advice would be to cancel and order locally because you are paying more for furniture that can be had online without the benefit of the local store to take care of problems now and in the future.

[Vinny]

Originally Posted by The Buckeyes

We are in the same boat. We purchased a bedroom set that is on hold until we return in January.

I am cancelling my order tomorrow. I have had the unpleasant experience of having to deal directly with a manufacturer after the furniture store I bought from went out of business.

[Vinny]

I am very angry over this news because I just bought last weekend. To those who think it is no big deal I will tell you the problems I had when I bought from Southern Lifestyles:

- wrong color dining room stools.
- damaged night table
- bedroom chest no longer made but they delivered the other bedroom items that they had in stock.

I called up the store and within 3 days they replace the stools and night table out of their inventory and sold us the Bedroom chest they had on display in the store.

If they did not have a store here it would have been a royal mess dealing with three different companies, one of which did not make or have the missing item in stock. No thanks. I am cancelling. City Furniture does not seem to carry FlexSteel. I have been putting off buying a sofa, loveseat and chair that are motorized recliners due to the chances of problems which friends of mine have experienced with theirs. The fact that a local store was telling me not to worry as they would make sure things were taken care of made me take the plunge. Now that they are going away, I rather find another local store to buy from.

It seems logical to me that if any bought furniture and it is being held for months, it makes more sense to buy online and save a bunch of money because you are losing the benefit of the local store to fight for you, replace defective items out of their stock and even send their own repair person to fix minor problems. The price I paid includes a markup for the store and since the store will be gone right after I get my furniture, assuming it is not delayed as half he furniture I order is, why not buy online?

[sharonga]

What happens to my extended warranty that I bought last year with my new furniture????

[gomoho]

Originally Posted by sharonga

What happens to my extended warranty that I bought last year with my new furniture????

Take a minute and read the above posts were it has already been discussed.

[Villages Kahuna]

Southern Lifestyles has been a fixture in The Villages for years. Their retail spaces were beautifully laid out, giving customers lots of ideas. Their sales staff were well-trained and superb. Southern Lifestyles carried a wonderful array of middle-upper end brands. Their sales staff knew the layouts of Villages models like the backs of their hands. They wouldn't let buyers make the mistake of buying something that wouldn't fit.

Will City Furniture equal or better the products and services offered by Southern Lifestyles? The company's history up until the mid-1990's was as a chain in South Florida called Waterbed City. Since then they added other furniture, but it is all manufactured for them to their specs under their brand name, Kevin Charles, the name of the owner of the company Kevin Charles Koenig. You won't find common, well-known brand name furniture in the City Furniture stores, only their own branded pieces. And like many lower-end furniture stores, they sell financing as much as actual furniture. When "no payments until 2015" is featured in their advertising, I'm pretty sure I know the market segment they're targeting. Surprisingly, I don't think that's a good fit for The Villages. Nowhere near as good as was Southern Lifestyles.

So, will City Furniture equal or better the purchasing experience we've come to know from Southern Lifestyles? Speaking only for myself, I just placed an order for several large living room pieces from an interior design and furniture store in Altamonte Springs. We were familiar with their premium brands and their experienced designer visited our home and provided superb ideas and advice.

By the way, we stopped in to the Southern Lifestyles store in Lake Sumter for some comparison shopping. I don't know who owns or manages the store now, but my wife and I were given a pile of catalogs and told to "see what we could find". The sales person walked away to chat with another employee, leaving us with a pile of catalogs. We didn't look for very long before deciding to deal with the very nice store in Altamonte Springs.

[shirart]

Yeah the Developer is taking his furniture and leaving town. lol lol How silly!!!

[jrandall]

Babette's or Hudson's Furniture may be a better option.

[ilovetv]

Originally Posted by Villages Kahuna

Southern Lifestyles has been a fixture in The Villages for years. Their retail spaces were beautifully laid out, giving customers lots of ideas. Their sales staff were well-trained and superb. Southern Lifestyles carried a wonderful array of middle-upper end brands. Their sales staff knew the layouts of Villages models like the backs of their hands. They wouldn't let buyers make the mistake of buying something that wouldn't fit.

Will City Furniture equal or better the products and services offered by Southern Lifestyles? The company's history up until the mid-1990's was as a chain in South Florida called Waterbed City. Since then they added other furniture, but it is all manufactured for them to their specs under their brand name, Kevin Charles, the name of the owner of the company Kevin Charles Koenig. You won't find common, well-known brand name furniture in the City Furniture stores, only their own branded pieces. And like many lower-end furniture stores, they sell financing as much as actual furniture. When "no payments until 2015" is featured in their advertising, I'm pretty sure I know the market segment they're targeting. Surprisingly, I don't think that's a good fit for The Villages. Nowhere near as good as was Southern Lifestyles.

So, will City Furniture equal or better the purchasing experience we've come to know from Southern Lifestyles? Speaking only for myself, I just placed an order for several large living room pieces from an interior design and furniture store in Altamonte Springs. We were familiar with their premium brands and their experienced designer visited our home and provided superb ideas and advice.

By the way, we stopped in to the Southern Lifestyles store in Lake Sumter for some comparison shopping. I don't know who owns or manages the store now, but my wife and I were given a pile of catalogs and told to "see what we could find". The sales person walked away to chat with another employee, leaving us with a pile of catalogs. We didn't look for very long before deciding to deal with the very nice store in Altamonte Springs.

Babette's in Leesburg has many of the same brands, and especially floor space to show the furniture and try it, instead of looking at catalogs and guessing whether a chair or sofa is comfortable or not!

Also, Family Furniture across the street from Babettes has many of the quality, moderately-priced brands like American Drew and Legacy Classics that Southern Lifestyles had.

A former waterbed city store advertising no payments till 2015 definitely sounds cheesy.

And it's not too smart to take on the too-small store space Southern Lifestyles has been reduced to now, where there's not enough room to properly display furniture groups by room type.

[sueandskip]

Originally Posted by justjim

As TV moves closer and closer to build-out, I suspect you will see a number of changes.

This is almost funny....The build out was happening at the building of Spanish Springs then LSL and now BROWNWOOD....What next ?

[graciegirl]

I think that the closing, or selling of these two businesses is maybe a clue that it is close to the end. They needed furniture supply to outfit their model homes and rec centers.

[Bonnevie]

I agree, Gracie, that makes sense.

[Bizdoc]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

I think that the closing, or selling of these two businesses is maybe a clue that it is close to the end. They needed furniture supply to outfit their model homes and rec centers.

Alternately, as you like to point out, the Morse family are good business planners. Right now, the value of those stores is still pretty good. In another 3 or 4 years, even building is still going on, value may not be as high.

If I were investing in new businesses, I'd do so in assisted living and skilled nursing facilities. DW (who is an expert at such things) says we're short around 5,000 or so of those beds right now. (and you will note that the developers are involved with SumterPlace and several other such ventures.)

[batman911]

Our sales person at Southern Lifestyles said TV will keep a furniture operation, run out of their warehouse, to furnish spec homes and models. TV will still be in the furniture business but only for their own use.

[shirart]

Another rumor with no merit. Salespeople don't always know what they think they know. That's why their sales people. Tell you what u want hear not always the truth.