Today’s New York Times has an article about Crate & Barrel‘s guarded optimism as the economy continues its downward spiral.
Crate & Barrel CEO Barbara Turf reports that “Anything storage related and multifunctional – a desk that can be a console table or a sideboard that hides clutter – is selling really, really well.” That makes sense to me. Think versatility and longevity: buy something that could work in different rooms now and move gracefully to a different house in the future.
(Crate & Barrel’s Tivoli Dining Table, above, looks like it could be a decent desk – 38″ depth notwithstanding; I also think the Ceylon Island, below, looks pretty versatile.)
Turf mentions – not by product name, though – a few Crate & Barrel items with price points below $1,000 that continue to move: “a beautiful sofa” for $999; “a queen bed that is selling like crazy at $899.”But here’s a thought. Instead of looking at less expensive items within the same old stores, why don’t we change the whole paradigm and look in new stores? Smaller stores? Local, independently owned?
Here, for example, is an Antique European Draw Leaf Table from Random Harvest, a DC-based store with three locations.
At $895-975, the price is pretty close to some of Crate & Barrel’s tables. But I bet you anything that the quality is superior, and it’s a more unique piece than anything you’ll find at a national chain.
If you’re talking bang for your buck in a down economy, looking a little harder at local options might be a good idea.