Urban Farmhouse

[rezman]

Up thread it was mentioned that reclaimed box car flooring was so expensive.

Years ago when box cars were salvaged, they would just set fire to the interior. The treated wood floors and wood interior sheething would burn for days, afterwhich the remaining steel would be cut up for scrap.

Some of the reasons box car flooring is pricey are that it's removal is labor intensive. Box cars are built stout and the floors don't come out easy.

They're thick, long, heavy hardwood tongue and groove planks that you just can't get anywhere.

And, just through simple attrition, wood floor box cars are becoming less common as they've been replaced by steel floor cars over the years.

[jarrington00]

Here's a quick tip.

Go to this site: http://www.ana-white.com/

And you can use the free plans for all kinds of furniture to build yourself. Great site to reproduce pottery barn, restoration hardware style furniture.

[Pete]

In about a week, they open at the Dallas Farmers Market, which will be their 2nd location.

[Urbanized]

The growth of that company has been incredible to watch.

By the way, via conversations with my dad I know that the southernmost building in the Western Avenue complex was once the warehouse for Big Red Furniture. My dad's uncle was the president and general manager at one point, and my dad worked there as a young man in the late 50s and early 60s. It's notable not only because Big Red eventually became Evans furniture, but also because nearly every local furniture store had its roots there. Jude and Jody, the (original) Mathis Brothers, Bob Mills, all of these people worked there together at the same time.

[Roger S]

The growth of that company has been incredible to watch.

By the way, via conversations with my dad I know that the southernmost building in the Western Avenue complex was once the warehouse for Big Red Furniture. My dad's uncle was the president and general manager at one point, and my dad worked there as a young man in the late 50s and early 60s. It's notable not only because Big Red eventually became Evans furniture, but also because nearly every local furniture store had its roots there. Jude and Jody, the (original) Mathis Brothers, Bob Mills, all of these people worked there together at the same time.

Now that's an interesting bit of info.... Thanks for sharing!

[narrowexpanded]

They announced on social media that they have sold the company and have new owners. Additionally, the Dallas store that JUST opened has been closed. Handful of comments on their instagram and facebook pages from customers saying they have been waiting for months for orders to be delivered.

WHAT HAPPENED?

[Pete]

^

Big financial problems. Expanded quickly, new site in Dallas, etc.

They were on the verge of closing until this group bailed them out.

[BBatesokc]

There is a TON of competition when it comes to the Urban Farmhouse look.

The quality of their pieces is top notch - we own a few. However, where there used to be few choices there are now many, and lots of far less expensive knockoffs.

[OkiePoke]

I wasn't happy with my experience with UF. I knew of their financial issues... Seemed they got a new luxury suv parked outside their business monthly. Hopefully the new owners know what they are doing and will turn it around.

[Pete]

They are closing at the end of today (Sunday).

An investment group had taken it over after Farmer's Bank (the one with all the recent troubles) took it back (they had about a $5M loan). The new group closed Dallas and consolidated their sprawling OKC complex, but things were too far gone.

There will be some invite-only sales for a few weeks then they'll do an everything-must-go public liquidation.



More from the Oklahoman:

https://oklahoman.com/article/564448...rescue-attempt

[The Shadow]

Anyone else see a pattern here?

[Pete]

[Richard at Remax]

This trend is dying. Thankfully.

[Rover]

Such heavily branding based on a trendy style is always very risky, especially in retail relying on inventory heavy and high price point merchandise. To be a successful trendy merchandiser would mean being able to quickly adapt to changing tastes and trends. Just the name Urban Farmhouse ties it too strongly to a fleeting style.

[chuck5815]

Such heavily branding based on a trendy style is always very risky, especially in retail relying on inventory heavy and high price point merchandise. To be a successful trendy merchandiser would mean being able to quickly adapt to changing tastes and trends. Just the name Urban Farmhouse ties it too strongly to a fleeting style.

agree with most of this, but i don't think they necessarily had an inventory problem. from what I've been told, a relatively large number of their pieces were either custom made or sold on consignment.

[BBatesokc]

agree with most of this, but i don't think they necessarily had an inventory problem. from what I've been told, a relatively large number of their pieces were either custom made or sold on consignment.

Whenever we bought pieces there, only once was the item 'in stock' (we bought the floor model on sale). Otherwise it had to be built. Took a couple of weeks and we got to pick the wood and stain.

[SoonerDave]

Such heavily branding based on a trendy style is always very risky, especially in retail relying on inventory heavy and high price point merchandise. To be a successful trendy merchandiser would mean being able to quickly adapt to changing tastes and trends. Just the name Urban Farmhouse ties it too strongly to a fleeting style.

That was the sentiment of the people who took over the company and at least satisfied most if not all the 287 (?) outstanding orders when the Dallas location closed: the "urban farmhouse" fad faded as quickly as it arrived. I have a sneaking suspicion that the broader, monochromatic "urban" fad may be facing a similar fate in the not so distant future. Lots of similarly trendy, "chic" kinds of stores will be on the wrong side of things in the coming weeks/months. People can only tolerate shades of gray for so long.

[okatty]

Anyone attend their closing sale that started today? Curious what it was like.