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Industry family sells furniture for 60-plus years

By Lisa Casinger -- Home Accents Today, 4/1/2006

Wayside Furniture House has been providing mid- to high-end home furnishings and design services since its founding in 1939. It offers one of the largest selections in the Triangle area.

Wayside Furniture House offers free design services as well as immediate delivery and custom furnishings in two locations.

The Haines family knows the industry well. The late Hudson "Bud" Haines worked for Schewel Furniture in Virginia during the Depression years and moved to North Carolina to be a manager of the Tomlinson factory store in High Point.

Haines Sr. recognized a need for an upper-end furniture store so he opened Wayside Furniture House. His wife's family was in the manufacturing business in High Point and she was the office manager for Heritage Furniture when it started. His son, Hank Haines Jr., an architect by trade, joined the business in the early 1970s and now runs the company.

"In the 1930s almost all business districts were downtown," Haines said. "Furniture stores needed more square footage so they opened stores on the outskirts of towns, known as the waysides. That's where our name came from as did many all across the country."

Haines not only opened a second location 14 miles away in North Raleigh in 1990, he designed the building as well. The original store, which was a grocery store before Wayside, has been expanded several times over the years giving it a meandering footprint.

Wayside Furniture House carries living room, dining room, bedroom and even outdoor furniture as well as lamps, lighting, rugs, permanent botanicals, soft goods, wall decor and more. Best-selling home accent categories include accent furniture lines like Bailey Street and lamps. Though for the most part traditional styles prevail, Haines has brought in more contemporary designs over the last couple of years to introduce the store to a new generation of customers.

"We try to give a lot of personal service at Wayside," Haines said. "We have interior designers that help with selecting something as simple as a lamp or bedding to full-service projects in our customers' homes and we don't charge for their services."

Offering design services for free has been a great incentive for customers and Haines said it's paid off in the long run.

Like many retailers, Haines faces the challenge of running a profitable business in the face of rising costs and imports.

Haines suggests anyone going into home furnishings retail today should look to specialty stores like design, home accent or gift.

"Owning a full-line furniture store is a tough business to be in," Haines said.

Wayside Furniture House Founded 1939, Hillsborough St.;1990, Capital Blvd. Size 27,000 and 24,000 square feet Employees 15 Average annual sales $3 million Annual sales compared to previous year Business was up but so were costs. Home accent vendors Wildwood, Eastern Accents, Carver's Guild, Friedman Brothers, Quoizel, Chelsea House, John-Richard, Speer Collectibles, Bailey Street, Charleston Forge, Ferguson Copeland, Habersham, Hancock & Moore, Hickory Chair, Jeffco, Nichols & Stone Trade shows High Point Home accents as percent of business 15-20%

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