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When we moved back to Lincoln a year ago we moved all of our old furniture into the basement and have started from scratch on the main floor.  We have had a variety of experiences with a variety of furniture stores.  Now I would like to rate and relate my experiences with the various stores.  Mostly I just want to vent on my two latest experiences. 

The stores we have done business with listed in order of best to worst are:

1. Schaefer’s for Washer/Dryer/Refrigerator.  Not the cheapest choice but they were less expensive than several others. We were very pleased with their attitude and service.  Things were delivered on time and set-up for us.  Everything came without scratches or dings and the salesman gave us a good discount to entice us to buy the package.

2. Nebraska Furniture Mart.  Again, service and delivery were very good. A bit too much of used car salesmanship at the store but overall good products at decent prices and everything promised was delivered.

3. Ernie’s of Ceresco.  Not so easy to endorse.  I like the feel of helping the small town guy vs. the big conglomerate (Berkshire-Hathaway owned Neb Furn Mart).  But, difficult to get commitments on deliveries and what showed up was not quite what was ordered.

4. Furniture Row.  We only bought a couple of side tables and a coffee table and it was like they were doing us a favor to agree to deliver.  When it was delivered it wasn’t assembled.  This was not discussed at the store.

5. Slumberland. Dining room set arrived without the right chairs. I volunteered to pick up chairs at the store so they could save themselves a trip.  When I arrived the chairs weren’t there and I had to return.  When I did return they wanted to give me unassembled chairs. 

Am I missing anyone?  Similar experiences?  Rank your favorites.

Thanks for the rundown, Moses. I don’t have a lot of experience shopping for furniture and appliances, but your list is pretty much in the order I would have expected. In particular, I hear positive things about Schaefer’s all the time.

I bought my washer/dryer and refrigerator from Sears.  I like Kenmore and they delivered it when they said they would and set it up.

Bought a Denver Mattress and box spring set for our son.  Its cheap and springy like a cheap motel but we didnt spend a lot of money. 

I really like Lincoln Mattress and Furniture’s items.  Bit pricey though. 

Only go to Schaefers for electronics.

I’ve heard good things about Havelock Furniture. We’ve gone there a time or two but we haven’t made any purchases. We’ve been couch shopping for a couple of years but we (actually, it’s my wife) can’t seem to find what she wants.

Thanks for the post. My husband and I moved to Lincoln about 2 1/2 years ago with very little furniture. We looked at a lot of furniture stores, including Nebraska Furniture Mart (NFM), Furniture Row, Lincoln Mattress and Furniture, Ernie’s, Ashley (in Beatrice), Ethan Allen (now gone), Rod Kush in both Lincoln and Omaha (now gone), Slumberland, Armstrong, and Havelock. Of those stores listed, we’ve actually made purchases from NFM, Furniture Row, and Slumberland. There are items that we would like to purchase someday from Lincoln Mattress and Furniture.

Our basic impression: it’s difficult to find nice furniture that’s even reasonably affordable. We were surprised that a city the size of Lincoln doesn’t have more furniture stores.

Our ranking:
1) Furniture Row - this is where we’ve actually purchased most of our furniture. We like the quality of the furniture they carry, and while they aren’t as cheap as NFM, they’re reasonably priced. We didn’t find the salespeople to be too pushy, and they were helpful and provided good service. We also purchased a mattress from Denver Mattress, and I really think we bought a much nicer mattress for the same amount of money compared to some of the name brands. The mattress we purchased was mid-range, and we’re really happy with it.
2) Slumberland - it’s fine. The salespeople are a little pushy, but overall they have some nice things. Prices are also reasonable.
3) Lincoln Mattress and Furniture - we love some of their furniture. The salespeople are very helpful, but prices are a little high. However, quality also seems very high, and prices seem on par for the quality.
4) Nebraska Furniture Mart - we bought some things from NFM for our living room just after we moved. I don’t think we will go back. We bought mid-range furniture, but the quality seems cheap. We are already having problems with it. The salespeople are pushy and border on obnoxious. If Slumberland salespeople are like those at a new car dealership, NFM salespeople are like those at a bad used car dealership.

Our impressions of the other places:
- Ernie’s: Narrow range of furniture styles, none of it suited what we wanted. Difficult to get help from salespeople.
- Havelock: Lower quality furniture, combined with a narrow range of styles. If we wanted cheap, we’d prefer NFM.
- Armstrong: Very high end, very modern. Extremely expensive.
- Ethan Allen: Very nice things, somewhat expensive, but also very high quality. Great help from salespeople without them being pushy. We’re sad that it’s closed.
- Rod Kush: Kind of warehouse-like. Quality was on par with NFM, but didn’t have the pushy salespeople.

This is just our experience, but given how much time we’ve spent looking at furniture in the last 2 1/2 years, I thought I’d at least share our thoughts.

Thanks!

After more than a year without a sofa, my wife finally pulled the trigger and bought one. Of all places, she bought it through the catalog from JC Penney and we love it. It’s leather, it’s the size we were looking for, and it seems to be pretty durable.

The downside was that it required some installation. It came in two pieces and the directions for connecting the two pieces together weren’t very helpful. It took me two hours and I was exhausted when I got done, but it was worth it because it was also one of the least expensive sofas we’ve run across.

If you don’t mind sweating a little, I recommend you consider the JC Penney online/catalog option.

A real sleeper is Hill’s in downtown Beatrice, they have good quality stuffl, nice people, but they don’t have a huge inventory of colors so you may have to order.  Plus everytime I have been there, they are already cheaper, or will match NFM if you bring it up.

With all due respect to the owners and employees of Lincoln’s furniture stores, I can say that each and every one of them that I have visited carries the least attractive and poorest-quality furniture I have ever seen.  I have been lucky to be able to get furniture from out of town, and have ordered quite a bit online, so that’s how I have generally furnished my house over the years.  I have gotten a few pieces at Pier One, but that’s about it from Lincoln stores, and Pier One, of course, is a national chain.  How I wish we had a West Elm store here, or even an Ikea or a Crate and Barrel.  Design Within Reach would be really excellent to have here.  But alas, no.