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| - After 2.5 years in Phoenix, I've decided that I deserve a couch! Of course I've had couches in previous chapters of my life, and those things are overpriced bulky behemoths that are a horror to transport.
First I haunted the various furniture stores going out of business, and alas, I still can't afford a couch that is $800 AFTER the 50% discount.
Second, tried Craigslist. Boy, used couches don't photograph well. Why would I spend $200+ for a nasty, dirty, floral couch!
Thus, I was intrigued with the IRCA mailing I received with the weekly supermarket flyers. They purchase used stuff from hotels renovating (or closing, I suppose) fix stuff up and re-sell it to the public (or other fleabag hotels renovating with their stuff.)
Picture frames for $10! Sleeper sofas for $175! Other stuff for cheap! screams the ad.
Thus, I trekked out here the other day, a large warehouse filled with stuff. Don't expect lavish customer service or nice decor; it's a warehouse, it's a thrift-y store. And thus, fun to explore? Did I want a player piano? Huge tubed TVs? Lamps replete with AC jacks? Any need for 100 functional coffee machines or hair dryers once attached to bathroom walls. No, I wanted a couch.
They had a couple of sectionals, but mainly love seats, recliners, sleeper sofas, and other "regular" sofas that are found in hotels and lobbies and etc. They had some old fashioned stuff that once populated "Lawrence Welk" (show? Hotel?) some faux leopard skinned chaise lounge and red, white, and black leather sofas (solid red, solid white, solid black, not striped!) probably from fancier hotels that I never go to. Most was in the $400+ range, and really, not what I wanted.
I spied a solid, functional, clean green sofa sleeper that the tag proudly exclaimed once lived in a Westin hotel. And I fell in love with the $175 price point. There were a couple couches cheaper, perhaps $149, but those looked a pad bit dirty and skanky for even my standards.
I found a salesperson, and simply said "I want that one," and he didn't try to upsell me on anything else. They do deliver, but it's by mileage, so this thing would have cost me over $100 to bring to my place. Thankfully, they hold merchandise for 7 days, long enough me to convince friend-with-truck to assist for the low price of a good meal.
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