A Strange New Tribe Emerges From the Online Jungle: Millennials Shopping IRL

For a decade, millennials ruled the furniture world with an iron finger. Scrolling through websites with vast offerings of tables, chairs, and dressers, they would gleefully spend thousands on sofas they never sat on or tables they’d never touched. All it took to buy furniture was a tiny pounce on the button labeled “Get It Now!”

Millennials were fearsome dictators. They demanded generous return policies. If they didn’t like the sofa, off it went to a warehouse or the local dump and they’d get a refund or a new sofa. They were tweeting terrors. A small snag on a cushion could set off a storm of criticism on social media. Furniture-makers quaked in terror.

These king babies have been humbled. Their playground – the online stores – are empty of toys. Their tantrums are in vain.

All it took was a world-wide pandemic.

Supply-chain snafus have hit the furniture industry particularly hard. Buyers are encountering long delays for new sofas, dining sets, and other items for the home. Since most new furniture is made in Asia, its factory lockdowns and shipping problems have put an end to the fast-furniture craze, at least for now.

At Furniture Consignment Gallery, we’re seeing a strange new phenomenon: millennials, IRL.

IRL? That’s their lingo, which translates to “in real life.” Desperate to find actual furniture for their homes, they are venturing beyond the borders of the online world. We’re happy to welcome these digital refugees.

Like an isolated tribe emerging from the jungle, they are slipping into our stores stealthily to check out the wares. They are as skittish as creatures in the wild. They’ll poke a cushion and flinch at its unexpected softness. Price tags seem confusing. They blink at color and pattern so accustomed are they to the unrelenting grey and white of the online world they left behind.

Welcome, savages! We’re happy to introduce you to a brave new world of stylish furniture waiting for you to touch and sit on, as crazy as that may seem. At FCG, we have a vast inventory of pieces that you can buy and take home today. Yes, it may be challenging to get used to shopping IRL. Take it slow at first. You may be surprised how much you enjoy the experience.