Olympia Furniture Company: A Growing Business

olympia furniture store
Allen Starkey and Eddie Nelson, owners of The Olympia Furniture Company, take a moment to enjoy the new motion furniture in their recently opened expanded showroom.
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olympia furniture store
Allen Starkey and Eddie Nelson, owners of Olympia Furniture Company, take a moment to enjoy the new motion furniture in their recently opened expanded showroom.

Nearly two years ago Eddie Nelson and Allen Starkey moved from the comfort of being employed in the furniture industry to launching their own business, Olympia Furniture Company. Since opening in July 2013, the business has consistently experienced growth in inventory, community business awards, sales volume, repeat customers and staff. Its most recent benchmark of growth is an expansion of the store’s showroom. In April, the Olympia Furniture Company completed its conversion of its Harrison Avenue showroom in West Olympia.

“Even though our business is continually growing, so many of our new customers would comment that they did not know we were here and wished they would have found us sooner,” explains Starkey. “After hearing that often and wanting to increase our inventory, we took the opportunity to create an additional showroom that looks directly out on Harrison Avenue and has its own entrance and parking.”

The new showroom expands the existing 14,000 square foot West Olympia furniture store with an additional 3,000 square feet. This showroom features recliners and sofas as well as a covered area to use as an outdoor showroom. During sunny days, watch for two local builders to display custom outdoor furniture in this space.

Starkey designed a showroom vignette displaying a configuration similar to his own home. “Many people are looking for slightly higher end items that have the bells and whistles. These pieces have power and are made of quality leather. We have pieces at every price point and make sure we are fitting people with the right piece of furniture at the right price. We know we are successful at this ‘right fit’ because we have so many repeat customers and we are getting community recognition for how we do business.”

Olympia Furniture Company was recently selected as a finalist in the King 5 Best of Western Washington awards – a significant achievement as the winners of this contest have historically been long-time Seattle area furniture stores. To be recognized in the Best Furniture category while being a new store south of Tacoma speaks very highly of the selection of their home furnishings and customer service. Olympia Furniture Company has also been awarded the Best Furniture Store in the South Sound by the Thurston County Chamber of Commerce for the past two consecutive years.

“It feels really good to receive the Best of South Sound award because it is voted on by the general public. It has been our goal to better serve our customers with their furniture needs while creating a business and lifestyle to assist our local community,” explains Nelson.

olympia furniture store
The recently renovated Olympia Furniture Company showroom has store front access and parking on Harrison Avenue on the westside of Olympia.

Nelson and Starkey felt constrained with their options to help out others when they worked for someone else. Now as business owners, they can choose how to contribute to community causes.

“It is nice to be able to do things for people while making a living. When I worked for someone else I could not offer that same level of service,” notes Nelson. “Now as owners, we can choose do things differently like move an extra piece of furniture for free. We had an elderly customer come in the store. Turns out she lived near me. I was going to be driving home so I offered to make a free delivery. It just happened to be one of those pieces that would not fit through the door and then needed other pieces of furniture to be moved to make it work in the room. My belief is no good deed goes unpunished.”

That philosophy has also led Olympia Furniture Company toward community involvement. “February was a particularly busy month. It was tax season – that always brings in a lot of furniture shoppers. We participated in the Rotary Auction and used our business truck to help load donations. We were also at the annual Boys & Girls Clubs of Thurston County fundraising breakfast – all while we were remodeling.”

“Where I am standing now used to be the bank counter. In a matter of weeks, we converted a bank into our furniture showroom,” adds Starkey. “Now the next few weekends we will be bringing out one-of-a-kind pieces from our warehouse, marking clearance pieces and integrating new items.”

Memorial Day Weekend will be the ‘Grand Expansion Celebration’ with every item marked down and on sale plus special offerings such as interest free for up to 48 months, free delivery, and financing available.

Visit the Olympia Furniture Company Facebook page or website for up-to-date information.

Olympia Furniture Company

2302 Harrison Avenue NW, Suite 101

Olympia, WA 98502

360-338-0638

Hours:

Monday – Saturday from 11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Sunday from 12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

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