"That makes perfect sense," Toby muttered, eyeing a gorgeous cedar outdoor dining set marked 40% off. "Wait until the demand dies down."
Arthur watched as his team began slapping bright red "Clearance" tags onto the massive, plush sectional sofas that had dominated the floor since last spring. cheapest time to buy furniture
Toby scribbled notes on his pad. "So January and July are the magic months?" "That makes perfect sense," Toby muttered, eyeing a
Toby looked puzzled. "Furniture has a release calendar? Like video games?" "So January and July are the magic months
"Exactly like that," Arthur smiled. "You see, the big furniture designers showcase their new indoor styles in the spring and fall. For us retailers, that means new shipments arrive on our loading docks every February and August. To make room for the new February arrivals, we have to purge our current floor stock right now, in January. That makes January the cheapest time of the year to buy indoor furniture. We also do the same exact thing in July to prep for the August wave."
Toby smiled, straightened his name tag, and walked over to the couple. By the end of the hour, the couple was walking out with a receipt for their dream sofa at half the original price, and Toby had learned the golden rule of the retail floor: the best furniture isn't just about style, it's about the season.
"For indoor pieces, yes," Arthur nodded, walking Toby over to the corner of the showroom where a few lonely, heavy-duty patio sets sat gathered together. "But outdoor furniture operates on a different clock altogether. You don't want to buy a patio set in April when everyone else is thinking about barbecues. You wait. You wait until the end of summer, from August through October. That is when stores are desperate to clear out the bulky outdoor stuff to make room for holiday inventory."