MARYSVILLE — Sometimes it takes a bad economy for people to learn an important secret about buying furniture. The secret is that you can buy higher quality furniture for a lot less through consignment.
This doesn’t hold true at every furniture consignment shop. But Josef Miklautsch and Chris Philippsen, owners of the Mr. Chair Man store in Marysville, try to make sure it is true at theirs.
Mr. Chair Man opened at 1528 Third St. in April. Since then, business has been increasing five percent to 10 percent a month, according to Miklautsch.
“We’re a bit different from other consignment furniture because we’ve been in the business so long we recognize quality and what has the endurance so that it will last another 20 years,” he said.
Many Snohomish County residents remember Miklautsch as the founder of Jack’s Furniture, which used to be located on Smokey Point Boulevard. He retired years ago but now is back with a new business.
Philippsen is a veteran furniture salesman who worked for many years in Seattle. Between the two, they have 100 years of experience.
They use that experience to avoid accepting furniture made of particle board or plywood. They want tasteful, high-quality consignment furniture, and they try to stick with realistic prices that people can afford.
Good quality wood furniture can last a lifetime, Miklautsch said. Its value can increase 300 percent to 400 percent. He’s not talking about antiques, although the shop carries a few. He’s referring to furniture from the 1950s and ’60s from quality makers such as Cushman and Broyhill.
One ornate headboard for sale at Mr. Chair Man was made by Broyhill in 1962. It is listed for $69, but the original buyers paid just $19 for it new and enjoyed it for many years. It is still in excellent condition.
“Can you say that about furniture that is made in China that is not even wood?” Miklautsch asked. “It’s not going to be worth what you paid for it 30 years from now because it’s not going to last that long.”
The difference, he said, is in the workmanship. As little as 30 years ago, there were still craftsmen making a good deal of consumer furniture. Today’s mass production has met consumer demand, but quality has suffered as a result.
Look at the construction of newly manufactured furniture, Miklautsch said. It isn’t glued, doweled or screwed. It has been molded or stapled. It’s made from ground-up sawdust or fiberglass that has been tinted to a wood tone.
This type of furniture can still be called “wood furniture” because it contains sawdust. But the sawdust material usually can’t be repaired if it breaks. It can’t be refinished, either, because it won’t absorb stain. That means it isn’t likely to be re-purposed.
Aesthetics have changed, too. Because of mass production, furniture no longer has unique details. Hardware is kept basic so it can be used in multiple applications. Bowed glass is no longer used due to the cost of production and difficult shipping. Added drawers and hidden storage under chair seats are a thing of the past.
Fabric choices are far fewer, too, Miklautsch said. Everything modern seems to be microfiber or rayon. Tapestry, linen, velour and chenille are gone.
Fabric patterns have changed drastically. To avoid costly custom matching of patterns, there are more solid colors or patterns that have no set lines to be matched up.
“People know that the furniture that is made today is overpriced for its quality,” Miklautsch said. But while they know this, they may not know that they can buy older, quality furniture for less than they’d pay for lower-quality new goods.
One circa 1980 Broyhill bedroom set he had on the display floor consists of a dresser, mirror, chest, two night stands and a queen headboard for $699.
There are also some items in consignment stores that are hard to find, including cedar chests and baby furniture, because changing times have reduced consumer demand.
At the end of the day, Miklautsch and Philippsen want people to know their dollar can go farther with good quality, used furniture.
“We stand behind every chair we sell,” Philippsen said.
M.L. Dehm is a freelance writer with the Snohomish County Business Journal.
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