Welcome to        central Furniture!

Central Furniture
3807 Mechanicsville Tpke
Richmond, VA 23223

 

Phone: (804) 228-3767

 

Or use our contact form.

 

Store Hours

Mon-Fri 9AM to 6:30PM

   Saturdays 'till 5!

FREE DELIVERY!

In Store Financing!

At Central Furniture, we offer "In-Store" financing.  No Banks or Finance Companies are ever involved!  You can make your payments in person at the store or by mail!

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Thank you for visiting!

Central Furniture
Central Furniture

WELCOME TO   cENTRAL fuRNITURE!

Please keep in mind that these are pandemic times and many factories, both here and overseas, are being plagued with safety and labor problems.  Our company strives to keep an outstanding inventory on hand for immediate delivery, but some items are at the mercy of those suppliers and may not be available now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Newest Home in on Mechanicsville Turnpike!

Our new store at 3807 Mechanicsville Turnpike opened in June of 2018!   We're excited about all the additional space and the opportunities if provides for us to expand our selection and better serve our customers!  We're located at the corner of Mechanicsville Turnpike and Laburnum Avenue (next door to Hardees)!

We moved into  our old showroom on Mechanicsville Turnpike in 2004 and quickly outgrew that building.  We couldn't find a larger building available in our same neighborhood until 2018.

   

 

 

   Our Second Home in Richmond

 

 

 

 

 

    Our First Store in Downtown Richmond!

It all began in downtown Richmond when we opened in Furniture Row in 1991.  More space became available to us in 2004 and we made the move!

 

What has happened to prices!

What Happened to Prices!

 

Now in late 2022 we can look back and see that 2020 and 2021 took quite a toll on all businesses. The furniture industry got hit harder than most.  Normally furniture is a supply and demand based business.  Right now, that’s just not the case.  There’s a very limited supply and a huge demand… they just can’t seem to be reconciled right now. 

 

The problems began with COVID in March of 2020 with factories around the world shutting down.  Some opened and closed erratically for almost a year.  Others never reopened.  Factories that did reopen found themselves besieged by shortages of parts and materials.  Overseas factories found themselves at the mercy of their governments intervening.    In the U.S. lumber shortages continue to devastate manufacturers of frames used in upholstery and parts for bedroom and dining furniture.  When lumber is available, hardware for bedrooms (knobs, hinges, drawer guides, etc) continue to be backordered from Asia.  Most fabrics for upholstery come from overseas, as do spring kits and legs used on most sofas.  The majority of reclining sofas and chairs are produced in Asia and assembled here.  One of the worst problems has been a shortage in the foam industry, due to excessive freezing weather in Texas, where most petroleum based products such as foam used in furniture is produced.   While that manufacturing problem has eased, foam is still a perto-based product, and current oil prices continue to affect the price of foam.

 

As if all that weren’t enough, rising fuel costs and operation costs have gone trhough the roof in many areas.  A shipping container that used to cost $3,000 to ship from China is now costing close to $23,000!  (That adds about $1,000 to the cost of every bedroom group)!  Everyone dependent upon foreign materials is caught up on the overseas backorder issues and the excessive freight issues.  

 

Couple those with the incredible American labor shortages, and you can see why the furniture industry is struggling to keep up with demand.  Factories that used to ship us multiple truckloads within 30 days of our orders, are not scheduling orders for eight (8!) months out (or more)!  While some plants are producing on double and triple shifts, other plants remained closed down because they just can’t bridge all the problems.

 

At Central Furniture, we’ve been more fortunate than most.  Our strong personal relationships with our factories and our volume buying history, have left us with a few privileges that have kept goods flowing in.  We can’t get everything we want, but a large part of our inventory is flowing close to regular volume.   Since special orders could take as long as a year, we’ve stopped doing them.  We’ve been able to add warehousing space to back up more goods, and we’re still running our delivery trucks all day long five days per week.  Our staff has been working extra hard to keep up with the increased volume, and once things slow down eventually, we’ll reevaluate and see what we can do to manage things even better. 

 

Every single manufacturer has increase prices to us during this period.  Some American based factories have raised their prices across the board every single month for the last twelve months straight.  Most of the overseas based companies have more than doubled their prices to us in the last year months.  We originally had tried to absorb the price increases but there came a point where we just couldn't do it any more (or we’d actually have to be selling many items for less than we were paying for them!).  We’re paying more for some bedrooms and dinettes that they actually retailed for a year ago!

 

Just as you, we have no crystal ball to predict the future.  The U. S. economy remains strong but has many fluctuations and we just can’t seem to find stable prices.  We’re constantly adjusting prices up and down based upon costs on our orders as they arrive. 

 

Also, just as you, we’re looking forward to the day when this spiraling inflation slows down and becomes manageable again.  Every expense we have continues to increase, and we, just as all other retailers, are being forced to pass on those costs accordingly.

 

Thank you for hanging in here with us.  We continue to look for a more normal economy in the not-too-distant future!

 

 

As special notice about us, about COVID, and about furniture:

 

Central Furniture, as most other furniture retailers, is having a difficult time getting and selling inventory right now.  COVID has forced many manufacturers to shut down.  Some have reopened and some won’t reopen for a while.

 

With this in mind, our selection of goods for sale is a little limited.

Domestic upholstery producers are up and running again, but their long term shut downs have caused huge problems for furniture stores.  Some sofas (and recliners and sleepers) have been trickling in, but our total selection is running about 10% less than what it usually is.  American bedroom and upholstery manufacturers get many of their parts from overseas.  While domestic lumber may be used in many groups, hardware generally comes from across the ocean.

 

Mattress manufacturers are shipping again, but in many cases, they’re having to change fabrics to continue shipping.  Most fabrics sold in the US today come from overseas.  Fabric choices are extremely limited.

 

Most case goods (bedrooms, dining rooms, end tables and cocktail tables) are produced in Asia.  Some factories in China and Malaysia are up-and-running again.  Some aren’t.  The same is true for factories in Vietnam and Thailand.  In fact, almost all Asian countries are producing at about half their regular production.  That problem, compounded by a terrible backup in orders, is leading to incredibly slow shipping and arrival times.

 

Add to that almost a year’s worth of backorders from retailers across the country, and you can see why the entire furniture industry is having problems right now.

 

To continue and make matter worse, once goods are produced overseas, they must then be shipped by ocean carriers into ports in California.  Once they get through customs there, they must be transported from the west coast to the east coast.  Our goods come in through a distribution network in North Carolina and all these things are now leading to excessive delays.

 

Where our store usually has more than forty (40) different bedroom groups and another seventy (70)  living rooms on display (not to mention another 30 dinettes), right now we’re running a little low on some items.    Inventory is again flowing somewhat regularly, but not enough that we can count on a full showroom display. 

  

These problems extend to all types of merchandise.  Appliances, electronics, even lamps and rugs, all are dependent on overseas production in some way.

 

We apologize to all our customers.  Some goods on our website are out of stock; we hope you’ll have patience with us and all other retailers as we attempt to work through this biggest disaster in the lifetime of our industry.

 

Thank you!

 

     Chris Klotz, President

 

Since 1991 we've been furnishing Richmond with Value!

 

 

We're a full service home furnishings retailer.  We not only finance our own accounts, but we offer FREE DELIVERY and SET-UP for customers in our service area.  We have a large service area, from Chester to Aylett and Charles City to Short Pump!  

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