Knoxville Wholesale Furniture

Elevating the Customer Experience

Businesses adapt to the new customer buying trends and Knoxville Wholesale Furniture is setting the bar

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ot too long ago, rain and wind pounded the coastlines of some of our neighboring states, carrying dark clouds over the Appalachian valleys we call home. Yet not even hurricane conditions were enough to deter some of the biggest names in American furniture from touching down in Knoxville on October 2. Representatives from companies with names dating back into the 19th century were coming here to our humble hometown to take a first look at Knoxville Wholesale Furniture’s newest addition: the Galleria.

The Wholesale Story

The East Tennessee community is well familiar with Knoxville Wholesale Furniture. Readers might recall their philanthropic ventures as well, as for many years they have supported numerous nonprofit organizations throughout the region. But not as many of us might be familiar with the man – and now the family – behind the furniture.

Knoxville Wholesale Furniture began in the summer of 1992, founded by Tim Harris and his wife Robin. Tim had worked in the furniture industry for a decade at this point, and from the start, the Harrises knew they wanted to make something special with Knoxville Wholesale Furniture. Their commitment to their core values, says Tim, is how they’ve survived ups and downs in the industry.

“The only way you can do something this hard is culture,” says Tim. “First, we’re a Christian company. Number two, we’re going to be patriotic. Third thing is we’re going to love each other and love the community, and we teach people to give. And the fourth thing is can-do winning attitude.”

Since those early days, Knoxville Wholesale Furniture has expanded to four locations in the Knoxville area, and now they’ve taken their next step in creating the Galleria, a special furniture experience for all who enter.

“Before we began construction on the Galleria, we had about a year and a half of thinking, traveling, taking pictures, and other research,” says Tim. “It’s a big undertaking.”

Putting together the Galleria at Knoxville Wholesale Furniture’s flagship location on North Peters Road began this year.

“We work with the best luxury brands in our industry,” says Tim. “Lexington, Tommy Bahama, Bob Timberlake, Archbold, Hooker, Bernhardt, Tempurpedic, Carolina Custom Leather, and more. We wanted to really double down, target, and beat the best of the best in this luxury brands category.”

The Business of Home

For those of us not in the know of the furniture industry, it may not be immediately clear how much of a risk the Galleria was. According to Forbes, furniture retailers have continued to battle a multi-year slump since the pandemic. The climbing price of homes and rising interest rates mean fewer home sales, and that means reduced demand for new home furnishings. 

Multiple leading home furnishing companies have reported net revenue falls, with custom and high-end companies hit especially hard. One such company, custom furniture producer Ethan Allen, reported a 21.4% loss in net sales in an April press release earlier this year. But not Knoxville Wholesale.

Tim and his team had confidence that Knoxville would be different – at least for them. Those core values that helped them build their brand back in the 90s would be the same values that would see them not only tackle this latest challenge but create new opportunities from it.

“Let’s get this in front of everybody in Knoxville, and let’s see what happens,” Tim told his team. “I bet something good’s going to happen.”

That bet paid off. Though the finishing touches were still to come, the Galleria had a partial opening on Labor Day, and Tim says it was the best Labor Day the store had ever had, tied with only one other Labor Day in the company’s over 30-year history.

Since the Galleria’s opening, Tim reports, the average ticket at the store (that is, the average price of an item sold) has risen from just under $3,000 to $4,200, an increase of over 28%, a remarkable success – especially when compared to the sales declines reported by some of the other big names in the industry.

“I don’t think anybody else could have done that, and it’s because we’re trying as hard as we can at every location, and that’s our culture and our people,” says Tim.

A Visit to the Galleria

If you’re still awaiting for your first trip there, let me paint you the picture. The Knoxville Wholesale Furniture store on North Peters Road is a 125,000 square foot juggernaut of a building, and 35,000 feet of that has been set aside for the Galleria. That space is then divided into individual spaces by clean white walls, with each space dedicated to a different look or brand. Though it still opens out toward the main store floor, it really does feel like stepping into a model room when you step in. 

Each room is curated by Tim and his design team to create a space that is more than just a gallery for furniture; it’s a glimpse of what a home could be like if furnished in a particular style. If you’re looking for a more traditional rustic style, you can just step into Archbold Furniture’s Bob Timberlake section. Or for something softer and sleeker, Hooker Furnishing has a room set aside for their Ciao Bella line. The possibilities are endless, and you can see how the entire room comes together.

“This has been a home run for people who want the best,” says Tim, adding that what will be offered here will be ever-changing, based on what the customers want.

“There’ll be a constant evaluation of the Galleria to see what performs and what does not,” says Tim. “That’s one of the fun things about furniture. Fashion changes. Colors change. Our showrooms are constantly evolving.”

In the Eyes of the Experts

While it may seem like the brands represented here are simply furniture lines ordered for sale here, this couldn’t be further from the truth. These brands know and value the relationships they have with Tim and Knoxville Wholesale Furniture so much so that they were there at the opening of the Galleria. For them, this is a new opportunity to showcase their product in a new way.

“This new concept of the Galleria is game-changing,” said Jeremy Hoff, CEO of Hooker Furnishings, at the Galleria opening. “It really separates this type of upper-level product and gives us such a great presence with a collective living concept.”

Bryan Edwards, a vice president at Bernhardt Furniture, who sat with me on one of his company’s best couches, the Noel sofa, in his company’s setting in the Galleria, says, “There’s an affluent clientele here in Knoxville, and now they can feel very comfortable coming to Knoxville Wholesale and finding a solution for whatever their needs are.”

Pat McNamara, president and owner of Archbold Furniture, who gave me a tour of his joint space shared with famed American furniture designer Bob Timberlake, credits Tim Harris with bringing Archbold and Timberlake together and has particularly high praise for the new Galleria project.

“I hope that Knoxville homeowners appreciate what they have here in Knoxville Wholesale,” says McNamara. “Tim’s got some of our best sellers, and he’s got them at price points I’ve never seen. He is definitely bringing a value to the community.”

It’s about more than just the price tag, though, as Brad Delperdang, the field sales manager for Tempur-Sealy, explains amidst a sea of Tempurpedic mattresses.

“It’s about experience,” says Delperdang. “The way Knoxville Wholesale presents all this to their customer makes it an enjoyable experience where they get the mattress or furniture that’s best for that particular consumer.”

“I want the consumer to come home and have the best experience, and 10 years from now, they’ll still love that piece of furniture,” says Todd Stroud, president of Carolina Custom Leather, joining us at his own collection of high-end leather furniture. That’s the sort of quality, he says, customers can expect from brands like his in the Galleria.

“This is their life, and they’ve done an incredible job,” says McNamara. “Archbold Furniture is a better company today because of Knoxville Wholesale.’”

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