Crate and Barrel is a leading chain of home furnishings today, with over 170+ stores across the country. The company is popular for its quality of both merchandise and its team of associates. Crate and Barrel produces over millions of catalogs each year, and registers hundreds of thousands of brides, and now has its market all over the world through its website. Crate and Barrel home furniture is very popular, however, while shopping for it one needs to ensure that you are buying the good quality item for the right price.
Here, is a little information about how Crate and Barrel started, its furniture reviews and some useful shopping tips to buy the best stuff at the best price.
How did Crate and Barrel Start?
During the 1960s, a young Chicago couple called Gordon and Carole Segal had just returned from a honeymoon which they had spend in Europe. One night, after dinnertime while they were washing dishes, they were discussing that there was no place at their home to buy the affordable and contemporary housewares, which they admired on their travels through Europe. With a passion to make these designs available to others, the couple hired one employee and leased an abandoned elevator factory on Chicago's Wells Street. They traveled various parts of the Europe and directly bought glassblowers and ceramicists from factories making beautiful French copper pots and simple white bistro dinnerware. They had no money left for the displays, and stacked the shipping crates as shelves and filled the overseas barrels with many fun merchandise. Hence, out of necessity came the unique Crate and Barrel name. Wondering, who makes the furniture? The majority of the upholstery frames are benchmade in the U.S.
Reviews
Crate and Barrel furniture quality is very good and comes at a good price too. However, if you are on a tight budget then you can look for furniture items which are of medium quality. They have a collection of high quality furniture with many unique designs. The furniture department is actually a separate section which sells only the furniture items. The stores in cities like Manhattan are very large and contain huge range of items. Crate and Barrel are also innovators of the vignette style, where items are grouped according to the way they might appear in a house. The merchandise items at Crate and Barrel are carefully segregated. The stores are spacious and offer many sleeker and contemporary furniture design items. They also have many fresh designs which one can select from.
Shopping Tips
The first thing is that quality of Crate and Barrel wood furniture can be sometimes a hit-or-miss. Hence, it is advisable that instead of buying things from their site you actually go to a store, to check the quality of the furniture items you are purchasing. This will help you to determine whether an item is made of real wood or only MDF. The customer service at Crate and Barrel stores is good, and if you get stuck in the huge range of items, seeking help of the customer service staff will provide with the right options you are looking for. Also, look out for the clearance sale at the end of the season. You might just get lucky and get a great looking and good quality furniture item for less. You can also get the Crate and Barrel furniture coupon to get more discount on your purchases.
This was all about Crate and Barrel. So, visit a store near you and remember the above tips to get the best quality items at the best price.