City Furniture is a privately-owned retailer that sells home furnishings, mattresses, and home accents. It is one of the largest home retailers in the state, with headquarters in Tamarac, Florida, and 17 showrooms located from Miami to The Villages. Additionally, it operates as an e-commerce retailer through CityFurniture.com. The brand represents all types of home styles, with price points that appeal to a wide demographic.
Starting in 2004, City Furniture also began franchising Ashley Furniture, a Wisconsin-based home retailer. Currently, City Furniture operates 12 Ashley HomeStores stores throughout South Florida, including hybrid stores that combine City Furniture and Ashley Furniture.
Video City Furniture
History
Early History
In 1971, founder Kevin Koenig went to the tourist village of Provincetown, Massachusetts and opened a waterbed store in the basement of a house. He earned enough money to return to Florida and rent a 900-square foot shop in Fort Lauderdale called Waterbed City. The store quickly became successful, and Kevin was joined by his brother and current president Keith Koenig. They opened more Waterbed City stores throughout the next two decades, until facing a decline in the waterbed industry in the late 1980s.
1994 through 2007
To survive amid the declining waterbed business, the Koenig brothers completely reinvented the brand into a full-line furniture store. They changed the name to City Furniture, and the first showroom was opened in North Miami in 1994. All existing Waterbed City stores were converted by 1995, and the brand celebrated many milestones during this time period. This included the opening of a one-million-square foot showroom and distribution center complex in Tamarac, which is also home to the corporate offices and features an onsite health clinic for employees. Following the opening of the new distribution center, City Furniture introduced Same Day Delivery in 2002, as well as the launch of their own Kevin Charles brand of upholstery and mattresses. Kevin Charles is named in honor of founder Kevin Koenig, who passed away in 2001 shortly after the Tamarac opening. His name appears highway-facing on the showroom in large letters, and the name Doreen was added in 2015 to honor Keith's late wife.
2008 through present
The brand was reinvented yet again beginning in 2008. After conducting in-depth market research, City Furniture changed its look and grew its lineup, with more stylized commercials following in 2012. They expanded into new markets, opening more showrooms throughout Florida. They went on to introduce free shipping in 2015 in an effort to compete with growing ecommerce retailers, and they were the first brick and mortar retailer to offer this. In 2016, City Furniture continued to evolve its brand, including a complete revamp of its lineup to give consumers a best-in-class experience and represent all types of furniture styles. They launched the new tagline "Everyone Can Live Like This" in 2017, supported by another new ad campaign and TV commercials. This rebrand included the renovation of select showrooms, and included the addition of next-generation digital signage, an increased presence of home accents, and added a wine bar to the instore cafes (which famously gives away free cookies, a tradition introduced early on by the company).
Maps City Furniture
Brands
- City Furniture, home furnishings for the living room, bedroom, dining room, outdoor, and youth
- Kevin Charles upholstery, an American-made line of living room sofas, sectionals, loveseats, and accent chairs
- Kevin Charles mattress, foam and innerspring mattresses
- Rest & Renew mattresses, bed-in-a-box memory foam mattresses
- City Marketplace, a home accents store located inside select City Furniture showrooms
- Ashley Furniture, owned via franchise licenses of 12 south Florida showrooms
Green Initiatives
Six City Furniture showrooms are LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified. Their distribution center in Tamarac features a state-of-the-art recycling center, where 95% of waste is recycled. Additionally, beginning in 2014, they began converting their delivery truck fleet to run on compressed natural gas (CNG). The American-sourced gas reduces dependence on foreign oil and gives off fewer emissions. City Furniture has been repeatedly recognized as one of the top 50 Greenest Fleets in America, ranking #24 in the year 2017.
City Furniture in the Community
When City Furniture was officially launched in 1994, their mission statement was to enrich people's lives and make the world a better place. Through this pledge, City Furniture works with various local and national organizations by donating time, furniture, and money. Charitable partners include Habitat for Humanity, The Salvation Army, the American Cancer Society, Women in Distress of Broward County, the Camillus House, Holy Cross Hospital, and more. One of their most notable efforts includes an annual month-long campaign to support breast cancer awareness, as owner Keith Koenig lost his wife Doreen, a lifelong philanthropist, to the disease in 2015.
City Furniture in Popular Culture
Nancy Stafford, actress and former Miss Florida 1976 was the spokesperson for the City Furniture brand during the 1990s. She is best known for her role on Matlock.
In 2012, City Furniture styled the home of Kim Kardashian and Kourtney Kardashian that was used during the third season of Kim and Kourtney Take Miami.
In 2016, City Furniture became the official furniture store of the Miami Dolphins.
In 2017, City Furniture styled the Boca Raton home of Jill Zarin, who starred on Bravo TV's Real Housewives of New York City.
References
External links
- City Furniture website
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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