Want American-Made and Family-Owned Furniture? Head to Room & Board
If you are buying a new home and want your furniture made in the U.S. of A, we’ve got the place for you.
The atmosphere in Room & Board is serene to say the least. There are a few employees walking customers around the 40,000 square foot store. The five story layout is open and easy to maneuver. Color swatches lay on the couches and books fill the shelves.
Basically, you are going to want to move right in, which of course is part of the plan.
“We want to keep a comfortable experience in the store,’’ said Room & Board Marketing Manager Dave Nash.
Room & Board has been selling furniture and other home goods since 1980, with its roots in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Its new Newbury Street location just opened in 2014 with the promise of bringing high-quality, American-made goods to Boston.
John Gabbert started Room & Board after having a family furniture business called Gabberts Design Studio & Fine Furniture. The family business model is at the heart of the company to this day.
Nash said that Room & Board sources its furniture from manufacturing partners that are not only domestic, but also dedicated to a family business structure.
One of the store’s 50 nationwide partners is located in Massachusetts – M.H. Parks in Winchendon.
M.H. Parks does woodworking and has been around since 1827. According to their website, they are in their seventh generation of family ownership. Nash said Room & Board looks for that kind of cultural fit when seeking out partners.
“Are we on the same page philosophically?’’ he said. “Sometimes we have to end partnerships if we have to fight it more than work with it.’’
But Nash said it’s rare for a partnership to fall apart, which allows Room & Board to consistently stock its stores with just about everything you’d need to furnish a new home, and keep it all about 90 percent American made.
“Feel great about where your money is going,’’ Nash said. “[You are] keeping family businesses in business.’’
Tradition is also a focus of the store’s style. Room & Board is dedicated to sustainable product design and using design movements that worked historically – such as, Shaker, Arts and Crafts, Bauhaus, Scandinavian and Mid-century Modern. It’s one of the reasons Gabbert wanted to keep his business privately owned – so he had control of the designs and could have the feel he wanted.
“We use natural materials like reclaimed woods,’’ Nash said. He also said that they are looking to sell products that could “last a lifetime’’ and be passed down from generation to generation.
Nash hopes the traditional approach sets the store apart from competitors like Crate and Barrel or Restoration Hardware at all 14 of Room & Board’s national locations. (Each store across the country has the same products, but tailors store layout to what best fits the culture of the location.)
The company also doesn’t have sales or price changes. Locations set the floor at the beginning of January and keep their prices the same throughout the year. They don’t want to rush customers.
“No one has tried to pull off what we do,’’ Nash said. “We don’t have a huge spectrum for design. We aren’t hiding, but no one has done it.’’
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