I really love Thomasville furniture - I think the pieces are very well made and designed to last…read more Their furniture includes very classic lines with modern hints, which is just the kind of style I gravitate toward. Unfortunately, they tend toward stained pieces, while I sometimes prefer painted, so it's not always my go-to furniture shop. They did, however, add a Color Cafe series of tables and chairs that allows you to customize every detail, down to table legs and color. Now that is something I can appreciate.
This particular location, however, drives me insane. The moment you walk in the door, the receptionist eyes you while simultaneously lifting the store PA phone to call a Code 7 or something similar. Seconds later, a salesperson comes running from the back of the store to see what she/he can do for you. And this salesperson cannot - no really, I'm not kidding - be shaken. There is no opportunity to browse unaided/unhindered by some pesky employee who keeps piping up with comments about pieces you're not even seriously interested in.
Let me tell you a funny story now. Most recently, my fiance and I went kitchen table shopping at the Geneva store. We already knew that we were going to customize a table through the Color Cafe option, but wanted to browse the store to see what else they had. As I described above, a Code 7 was called and a woman (I'll call her K) came running to greet us. When she asked what brought us in that day, my fiance replied, "Furniture." She laughed hysterically and then asked, in a dead serious tone, "No, really, what kind of furniture?" So we said we were in the market for a Color Cafe table but wanted to look around. No matter - K dragged us to the back of the store to the Color Cafe section. So much for looking around!
The Color Cafe process is done almost entirely on the computer, so the three of us huddled around K's desk looking at options. I would dismiss an option only to have K show it to me again, saying, "Now you liked this one..." five minutes later. And she kept inadvertently opening other programs on the computer, like Microsoft Media Player. When it came to selecting colors, well, I had had enough. First, she kept trying to convince me that I did not in fact want an all-white table, but rather, wanted one with a stained top. I explained that I felt that was a bit too country/farmhouse for my tastes, but K insisted (and managed to convince my fiance) that this was going to look stunning and I would regret it if I didn't go that route. Meanwhile, she couldn't figure out how to change the color of the table legs on the computer, and I was getting very nervous about her ability to place the order. So I announced I needed some time to think it all over and actually left the store, upon which I went home and did the work myself on the computer. I returned to the store with the exact item numbers I wanted (and yes, I got the table in white).
By the way, while K was trying to figure out her computer illiteracy, my fiance and I kept excusing ourselves to go look at other furniture pieces. There were actually quite a few that we were interested in, but K was so busy computing, she completely missed our interest and subsequently, we didn't buy anything else.
So while I love Thomasville furniture, I cannot stand visiting this store. My advice to the manager here? Tell your employees to back down. It's absolutely ridiculous - I should be able to browse, on my own, without someone else breathing down my back. And you know what? Give me five minutes in the store alone, before calling a code, hmm? Furthermore, if you want to sell these Color Cafe pieces, I recommend you thoroughly train your employees to run through the options and place the orders.
