Consumers crave comforts of home

ATHABASCA – If you're going to be stuck indoors, you should at least be comfortable.

That seems to be the philosophy many who are isolating themselves at home have been taking due to the COVID-19 pandemic and some of are now spending money on big ticket items to give themselves some creature comforts while waiting for life to return to normal. 

Furniture and appliance stores were classified as essential services and were allowed to remain open meaning Bill Hamilton and Leanne Jones at the Athabasca Brick outlet, along with similar stores across the Town and Country This Week region, have been working very hard during the pandemic to help all of their customers find exactly what they're looking for.

“It was definitely a concern that we would either be completely closing or limiting our hours so much that we weren't really going to be able to help out the community too much from the store,” Hamilton said.  

"Probably one of the biggest items are freezers – freezers are getting really hard to come by because they've been in very high demand – but lately, it's actually been a lot of people are buying sofas and chairs because they're finding that by being home their sofa is not as comfortable as they thought it was.” 

Kristen Murray at the Barrhead Brick location has noticed the same increase in sales with the big sellers being beds as well as sofas and appliances. 

“It has picked up quite a bit since the COVID outbreak,” Murray said. “I did hear you mention freezers and stuff for Athabasca, so that’s definitely the same for us; not so much sectionals but definitely sofas and beds.” 

Customers who had money earmarked for other things have now turned to re-decorating or investing in their home Hamilton has found. 

“We get a lot of people on a daily basis,” he noted. “I got a lady the other day basically saying ‘Hey, I was going to go on a cruise and the cruise is cancelled and I'm going to invest in my house.’” 

The Brick has also lowered delivery fees by almost half, but due to social distancing they now leave your purchase in your garage or at your door. And, they have also instituted a new nation-wide program for front line workers to give them a discount. 

“The one big program now that we just started up which is really good; it's called our First Responders' Program,” Hamilton said. “We're offering employee pricing to them right now.” 

Hamilton also said that for as busy as they are, they are grateful to their customers and don’t mind looking out for the community they call home. 

“We want to be there to make sure we look out for our customers,” he said. "To still provide that service and make sure that the community knows that we're there to help them out and look after them.”

Heather Stocking, TownandCountryToday.com
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