Business Beat: Deer Park's The Furniture Club

This article was posted by Ryan Bonner. It was written and reported by Sara Walsh. 

A North Babylon family has found a successful way to expand its business during the recession while thinking outside of the box.

The Furniture Club of Deer Park was started by the Phillips family in February 2008 in the middle of the recession and has quickly turned into its second booming business. It’s a business venture that owner Lily Phillips said started “purely by accident.”

Phillips Family Moving & Delivery has been helping residents move and businesses deliver large goods since 1997, according to Lily. In 2008,  the moving company saw many of the businesses it provided services for closing their doors as the recession hit.

Lily said Phillips Moving & Delivery was helping a furniture store located off Sunrise Highway and was asked by the owner to temporarily store its furniture. Days turned into weeks at the warehouse, when the family was given the go ahead by the furniture left behind.

“We asked ourselves, ‘How do we sell this furniture? We’re not salespeople.’ My husband went, got a sign and put it on Fifth Ave in Bay Shore. Before you knew it, people were coming in like crazy,” Lily said.

The highly unexpected and unusual business agreement gave the family a new idea of opening up a second business as a furniture store.

“We realized if we sold furniture we could make our own deliveries out of it, rather than putting it off on another delivery company. One business really enhanced the other,” Lily said.

The Phillips family started up The Furniture Club out of the moving company’s warehouse space off Commack Road. By using its existing facilities, Lily said the family managed to avoid many startup costs associated with a new business and get off the ground running.

Since 2008, the Phillips sons have taken over running the moving and delivery service while Lily and her husband have focused on furniture types, brands, fabrics, colors and wood types. The Furniture Club sells pieces for all rooms of the house from major brands like Ashley Furniture, Home Elegance, King Koil mattresses and more.

The family-owned furniture business has grown so quickly that The Furniture Club moved from Commack Road to Grand Boulevard in Deer Park, to give the business a larger showroom floor. Various couches, tables, chairs and bedrooms sets are put on display for customers to sit on, test and pick out.

Lily said a new sign will be installed shortly bearing the business’s new name, making a transition from The Furniture Club to Phillips Family Furniture and Mattress. The family hopes the new name will place emphasis on it being family owned and locally run to shoppers.

“We used The Furniture Club to give people an incentive. You buy something from us then refer a friend or family member, we’ll send you a check,” Lily said. “But we don’t want our customers to think that it’s exclusive.”

Several summer events, including customers appreciation specials, will be planned to promote the store’s new name and location.