"People who shop at Room Service, 933 Liberty Road, often recognize other shoppers there. They might be local celebrities or just plain friends, but their faces are familiar. Owner Julie Selby and her employees aren't surprised, even when friends plunk themselves down on the for-sale sofas and take a break from shopping to talk.
Many of the shoppers are also consigners of merchandise. Room Service has "over 4,000 consignors on our books. We know 90 percent of them by name," Selby explained. And since the Room Service employees see half of the consignors "every other week" or so, walking into the store feels like dropping into a friend's home.
Something else that makes Room Service feel more like a residence than a store is the way the shop is arranged. In-house decorator Coffman Knight places sofas and love seats together with suitable chairs into conversational groupings around coffee tables of compatible designs. He adds end tables with lamps, knickknacks, or eyecatching flower arrangements and vases. The prospective buyer's focus is drawn in even more by the brightly-painted sections of walls - turquoise, gold, coral pink, purple - which separate each eclectic group from the adjoining ones.
This friendly shopping atmosphere amidst home furnishings that really look as though they are in a home has been going on since Julie Selby and a partner opened Room Service in 1994. As other nearby businesses closed, the company took over their adjoining retail space. Selby eventually bought out her partner. Six employees help her operate the mostly consignment store, which also sells some new decorative items. Selby finds these accessories at wholesalers' markets in Atlanta and High Point, N.C.
What's the best part of running Room Service? "The people you meet," Selby quickly replied. The downside of the business is the paperwork that keeps her in her office when she would rather be with her customers.
Selby said she has created "a friendly place to shop," by "our personalities, the music we play, the way we know people." Although she does some television and newspaper advertising, most customers visit Room Service because they're heard about the shop from friends. Selby is especially proud that Room Service is the only local consignment shop invited to participate in the Decorators' Showcase. She and Knight are looking forward to the next Showcase at Cave Hill.
Shoppers' needs vary from a tiny dish or figurine to enough furniture for several rooms. Some customers buy items at Room Service and resell them on Ebay. Two customers buy china to resell at nationally known Replacements in North Carolina. Room Service keeps a list of collectors' wants, should the desired items be consigned.
Consigners' needs vary, too. Merging two households, divorce, moving and downsizing are some reasons why people have home furnishings they wish to sell. Some consigners buy at garage sales and resell for profit at Room Service. Others are dealers with excess inventory.
Room Service features newer kinds of furniture rather than antiques. Traditional styles sell best, particularly furniture in cherry and mahogany. Room Service doesn't have many collectibles, but UK items sell quickly.
Unlike many consignment stores, Room Service does not charge consigners a fee, nor does it permit buyers to bargain down a price. An item's sale price is split between the store and the consigner, 50-50. Then the item is marked down another 10 percent for each subsequent month it stays there. Unsold items can be picked up by the consigner, or the store will, at no charge, donate the items to charity and let the consigner claim the tax deduction. Consigners may carry in small items. Selby asks furniture owners either to bring in or email photographs so that she can provide an approximate selling price and schedule deliveries when floor space is available.
What's the most unusual item Room Service has consigned? Selby described a "huge papier måchè dragon, multicolored, about eight feet tall, made for a Halloween party." A motel owner in London, Ky., bought it for $100, to display by the indoor pool. Room Service likes to consign unusual items, but the employees never accept any item not in good condition.
Why is Room Service so successful? Along with the unexpected - a display of colorful, whimsical reading glasses, a chance encounter with an old friend, a frequently changing inventory with surprises that weren't there last week - is something predictable. As Julie Selby explained, "People don't expect us to be cheap, but they expect to get their money's worth." Twelve years of increasing business suggests that her customers get just that.
Room Service is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. The Web site at www.roomserviceinc.com shows photographs of furniture groupings and some of the newest items.
"