i've been to NC to purchase 4x for our last home. each trip lasted approx. 3-5 days, depending on the number of rooms. i usually like to dedicate 2 days per room at the least... more if it's a very large room or will contain several pieces... upholstered furniture takes longer to select since you need to choose fabric. as far as "worth the time and effort": i LOVE going! it's fun and it's been my experience that i'm getting a very good deal. i'm not easily overwhelmed since i limit my choices to a very specific quality. i have a salesperson that i've worked with on all my previous trips and she knows me and my taste (and budget). you can call ahead to any of the showrooms and make an appointment to work with someone. on my last visit, i had my salesperson for five straight days. she was there for me and me only. if another customer approached her she would tell them she was with an out of town guest who had made an appointment and would politely direct them to the reception area where they could make an appointment for a sales person. while an appt is not necessary, it is great to work with one person and get to know them. if no one is available you can look to your hearts content, but you may have to wait if you have questions. also, a good salesperson can direct you to pieces not on the floor and assist with catalogs.
i shop at boyle's and their salespeople are designers. (i believe this is true for all the showrooms, though i'm not sure.) they are quite knowledgable and can determine proportion to room size as well as existing pieces. we're building a new home so my next trip will probably be at least a full weeks stay and then a number of subsequent visits. hope this helps! i can't wait to go back and visit my friends!

I would definitely go again and for sure think that it is worth it! I think we had a total of three days to shop, and yes it was sort of overwhelming because we had a long list of things we were looking for and so felt a little under pressure. I really regret not going to NC sooner as we had been looking for two leather sofas for our family room for years and finally setteled for/ordered some that we saw in a furniture store about 45 min from us. Later, when we were down in NC and I saw the huge selection of leather sofas, so many to choose from, I was so disappointed that we didn't wait because we are disappointed with the sofas we had ordered as far as comfort goes.

We really liked Boyles and Adams furniture. We also like the patio furniture selection at Furnitureland South. They also had a great selection of leather sofas(too late for us though). We bought 12 beautiful carved mahogany dining chairs at the Adams furniture outlet. Also, ordered a large square tufted ottoman. While in NC we went to 1502 fabrics and picked out our material and did the ottoman COM. 1502 has an amazing selection of fabrics. We picked out patio furniture at Furnitureland South and a few other small items.

When I go back again someday, I will probably do most of my shopping at Boyles and Adams furniture, and spend some time at Furnitureland South, they have a great selction of fabrics in their design room, once you pick out furniture pieces. Don't feel like you have to finalize your order when you are down there. You can work with a designer and make your selections of fabrics and sytles, get all the style #s and information, think about things for a few days, and then come home and do all the final calling around for best pricing and pay from home witha credit card. Rose furniture acutally has the best prices on a lot of things but the problem is you have to pay the downpayment ahead with a check versus Boyles you can put your downpayment with a credit card and then if you have a problem you have you credit card company standing behind you. We actually did order from Rose and were counting on not having any problems, but then found a major structural defect with the item the day after delivery. With Rose you also have to pay for the item upon delivery with a cashier's check, so anyway things were a big hassle for a while and we were really stuck. What a hassle! Make sure when the item is delivered that you take ALOT of time to check EVERYTHING over.

I will definitely go back again someday.

Furniture Shopping - Try Black's Furniture in High Point - great knowledge from their staff and discount prices -
www.blacksfurniture.com. Building a new showroom too!

Black's is the best that I've found. They are not too large to be impersonal. They have great prices and excellent customer service. Definitely worth the trip and I understand the new showroom is going to be fabulous! Can't wait for my next shopping vacation.

We are building and I will need several rooms of furniture - I'd love to go to NC to shop, but I had a few questions. If you don't live in NC, do you have to pay sales tax? Also, what is the approximate savings as compared to regular retail pricing - 20%, 30%, etc. Finally, do you just order the furniture and have it shipped to you, or do you rent a truck and carry it home with you? Any input would be appreciated. Thanks!

You definitely save $$$ when shopping at the discount store in NC. We purchased furniture for our entire home a couple of years ago and saved thousands. We ended up purchasing from Green Front Furniture in Farmville, VA. They had the best prices for us for what we were purchasing (ie., Henredon) and compared to NC stores. Now when I buy one or two pieces, I just call a few places and compare. This book was a WONDERFUL reference when we shopped in NC and VA and now it's a great reference when I just want to call - it lists every furniture manufacturer and stores that carry it, for example. I highly recommend you check it out. GL!

Here is a link that might be useful: The Furniture Factory Outlet Guide

Hi Bnice,

I just wrote about this in my post - Hickory Trip Report. It is easy to get overwhelmed!

Ditto the comments above and the book recommendation. I buy the latest edition each time I go and give the older edition to friends who have an interest in learning the ins and outs of furniture buying in NC. I also went to a seminar when the author came to our town.

RE: Taxes, you will probably have to pay taxes. The retailer didn't charge up front, although I have heard that many have started to. On three occasions, I was billed for taxes by my state of residence about six months after delivery.