Who knew selling returned furniture could be a thriving pandemic-proof business? Beamsville entrepreneur Amanda McFarlane, that’s who.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, McFarlane has been running a discount Wayfair furniture business out of her Beamsville home.
“I was doing a lot of online sales and people kept asking me ‘where is your location?…when you open I would love to see everything you have’,” she said.
So she decided to expand into a warehouse. Her company, Second Chance Decor Inc., opened its doors at the end of September. It is located at 4696 Christie Drive, Unit 7 in Beamsville.
COVID-19 has sparked a furniture demand. Sequestered at home, people want more enjoyable, multi-purpose, and productive home environments. Plus more people are working from home than ever before. And that means they need new furniture.
Wayfair reported remarkable growth
The trend has been profitable for many furniture sellers. Wayfair, one of the most popular e-commerce home décor companies in North American, reported a quarterly leap in sales from $2.3 billion to $4.3 billion. CEO Niraj Shah told the Wall Street Reporter that the jump was caused by the pandemic. “COVID-19 demand tailwinds benefited our sales momentum,” he said.
With support from family, McFarlane tested retail sales with a once per week pop-up store to gauge interest. “We started with pop-up sales. The first two were on Saturdays.” This showed her there was a definite demand that needed to be met. “We had line ups across the building waiting to come in for the first three hours,” McFarlane said.
The store currently sells Wayfair furniture at up to 50 per cent off the retail price and is now open three days a week. It’s run by McFarlane and her parents who have been instrumental in furniture assembly.
New stock arrives daily
Second Chance Decor Inc. receives new stock on a daily basis. All the items they sell are new but they’ve been discounted because they are Wayfair returns. Some items may have been incorrect deliveries on Wayfair’s side. Or, they could have been pieces that simply didn’t work in a buyer’s home. Whatever the case, McFarlane scoops them up and local shoppers benefit. Area homeowners can now snag Wayfair furniture at lower price points, and without having to wait for their delivery, too.
McFarlane’s expansion plans don’t end there. “Eventually, we’d like to start importing furniture from Bali. We’ve been talking to manufacturers out there. But, that’s probably about a year away. With COVID-19 still going on right now, we are sticking to Wayfair products.”
McFarlane says to celebrate the opening of its new space, Second Chance Decor Inc. is offering first time shoppers a 10 per cent discount on their first purchase. Shoppers who visit can refer to this news story in Niagara Info and use promo code GRANDOPENING10 at checkout.
Second Chance Decor Inc. is open Thursdays 11 a.m. – 6 p.m., Fridays 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. and Saturdays 10 a.m.- 3 p.m.