Not Costco, Not IKEA: Consumer Reports' Best Places To Buy Furniture

When you're preparing to make a big-ticket purchase for your household, like a couch or bedroom set, you may be on the lookout for furniture shopping red flags. Pick the wrong retailer, and you might encounter issues like delivery delays, unfair refund policies, or poor customer service responses. Although you could ask friends for recommendations or read online reviews for the best furniture stores, you may have better success finding the right retailer by relying on Consumer Reports and its 5 million members. It recently published a list of the furniture stores that deliver the highest levels of customer satisfaction. 

You might expect to find well-known stores like Costco and IKEA at the top of the list. After all, Costco offers excellent furniture prices and a generous return policy, while IKEA is a budget-friendly option. However, the Consumer Reports list of the best brick-and-mortar furniture stores ranked Stickley and Room & Board as the top two stores, as they tied for the highest customer satisfaction scores. Of the 48 stores on the Consumer Reports list, Costco tied for third, while IKEA tied for 16th.

To create its list, Consumer Reports collected survey results from its members. When collecting surveys, Consumer Reports asks its members about their experiences with various retailers during the past few years. It then provides scores for the stores based on categories like furniture quality, customer service results, on-time delivery, prices, return policies, and overall product selection. Consumer Reports is an independent, non-profit organization that doesn't accept advertising, giving buyers an option for information that's considered unbiased.

In the Consumer Reports survey, Stickley received the maximum possible scores in the categories of furniture quality, customer service, and in-store atmosphere. Stickley is known as a furniture retailer that will give you classic and heirloom furniture designs, making it one of the home decor brands that win over customers with feelings of nostalgia. Stickley manufactures the majority of its products in New York and North Carolina.

This supplier sells its furniture through showrooms, factory outlets, authorized dealers, and its website. You can find a local retailer at the Stickley website, although its showrooms are primarily in the Northeast. When shopping at Stickley stores, you can ask for help from the company's designers as a complimentary service. These pros can help you find specific pieces or design an entire room. You can make an appointment for design help through the Stickley website, or you can just visit a local showroom. Each store has a welcome desk that provides advice, too, giving customers an efficient experience. Stickley says its showroom designs aim to deliver a beautiful store layout that focuses on ambiance and the customer experience.

Stickley received its lowest score from the Consumer Reports survey in the category of pricing. It did not receive scores for delivery and returns because of a lack of data from the members who participated in the survey.

In the Consumer Reports survey, Room & Board received the maximum scores in the categories of furniture quality, customer service, product selection, in-store atmosphere, and the quality of its delivery services. It also earned above-average scores for on-time deliveries and its return policies.

Room & Board focuses on offering modern furniture designs and decor, delivering furniture that has clean lines. More than 90% of the company's furniture is created in the United States. Customers can purchase Room & Board furniture at its in-person stores and through the website. The company has stores spread throughout the United States, including several stores in California, as well as stores in Denver, Atlanta, Chicago, New York City, Austin, and Boston. It has more than 20 brick-and-mortar stores, but this is far fewer than some of the other retailers on the Consumer Reports list. When you visit one of Room & Board's stores, you can take advantage of complimentary design services from the company's professionals. They'll help you find furniture that fits the way you want your room to look, and they can create 3D renderings of your room. You can schedule an appointment with a designer through the company website.

The Consumer Reports survey did not give Room & Board a score in the returns category, as it did not have enough data. Room & Board received a below-average score in the category of furniture prices.