The 3-Point Checklist for Choosing the Right Office Furniture Store

If you ask around or conduct a quick Internet search for an office furniture store in Charlotte, NC or Columbia, SC, you’ll find a few outlet and big-box furniture stores like Office Depot, Staples, IKEA, Herman Miller and Ashley Furniture. While these are certainly reputable companies, how do you know if the store offer what you need to smoothly complete your office furniture project from start to finish?

And the local office furniture stores that appear in search results, are these better options? How do you know which name to turn to?

Don’t fret. Whether you’re looking to buy new, used, contract, or home office furniture, here’s a quick, handy checklist to use when searching for an office furniture store in Charlotte, NC or Columbia, SC:

Depth of Selection

Rarely will one brand of furnishings fill every furnishing need. So, an office furniture store offering a single brand is likely to fall short – especially with your business’ needs. That brand of chair, for example, might be the most well-known and reliable chair in the country, but how are the brand’s desks? And, what if you need partitions or room dividers? Artwork? Refuse bins?

So for the best solution, consider an office furniture store that features a large selection of furnishing manufacturers and vendors that can custom fit products to you — instead of you having to fit to their products.

Function and Design

When choosing an office furniture store, you’ll want one with a staff of employees that really knows their way around all of the manufacturers. This way, the staff can provide expert advice that will help you make smart choices for your business. And while helping you choose the most reputable manufacturers for your functional needs, a qualified staff can also assist with:

• Configuration. A skilled design team can help you configure your fire-code friendly, multi-station office space setup. They can also help you position the staff for each department so that they work most efficiently.
• Aesthetics. Will you need your office furniture to complement certain color schemes, fabric types, and finishes? An office store with a design team can help you choose the best look for a new or existing office.
• Deadlines. A knowledgeable design team can also ensure your solution’s purchase-to-installation time fame will meet your deadline — even provide written assurance to that fact. And if deadlines are missed, at some stores, in-house guarantees promise customers recompense.

Installation and Service

Once you’ve narrowed your list to stores with a great selection and a great team, there are several things to keep in mind about your post-purchase experience before you pull out your checkbook. Ask — will your Charlotte, NC or Columbia, SC office furniture store handle any of the following:

• Delivery and installation. Deliver and installation can be tricky, especially if you need multiple trucks and specialized hardware for proper assembly. You will want to know how and when your furniture will get to your office, as well as who will be responsible for assembly when your solution arrives.
• In-house or contracted crew. Does your office furniture store offer installation by a trained and supervised in-house installation crew? Or are these services contracted to a company or individuals who may be unfamiliar with your product and needs? These answers can impact how effectively your solution is installed and also the validity of your warranties.
• Service. No matter the quality of your product, things break. Whether a drawer jam, popped chair caster, loose cubicle panel, or lost file cabinet key, you will want to know who to call if such a need arises. And if your staff size changes and you require workstations to be moved, find our if your office furniture store offer these services – and at what cost.
• Guarantees. Most office products come with a manufacturer’s warranty. If you’re buying furniture for multiple offices, select office furniture stores will maintain warranties on your behalf. In addition to manufacturer’s warranties, some stores offer internal guarantee. If so, you will want to know if the store guarantees its handiwork and has a favorable policy for fixing its mistakes.

Ultimately, you’re looking for an office furniture store that makes your life easier — they handle the mundane details of the project so that you can focus on your business. Your office furniture store should be your partner in success. So if you can’t put a checkmark by even one of these criteria, it’s a good sign to keep looking.

Still unsure who to choose in Charlotte, NC orColumbia, SC? Call or contact us, and let us help you grow. Because we make offices work!