“Nice desk,” a customer snickered as he strolled past me. Earlier that morning, I’d set up shop with my laptop and my paperwork among the dining tables on the third floor of our store in Hanover. When I’m visiting our stores, I’ll typically find a quiet spot in the showroom to check my email and get some administrative work done.
Sometimes, I feel like a bit of a hobo, though. I can’t count the number of times I’ve had to pack up and move after a customer has bought the table out from under me. Fortunately, I’m not fussy about my workspace. I’m just as happy at a rough farmhouse-style table as I am working at a gleaming mahogany heirloom.
I know I’m a rarity, though. Many of our consignors are very attached to the desks at which they’ve spent years of their working lives. And lots of customers come in with very specific ideas about what they need in a desk. After all, that’s the perch at which they plan to create that start-up, score the big deal or write that great novel.
My now-retired father-in-law was one of those for whom his home office was a sacred place. He moved many times during his long sales career, and in every home, he made sure that his office had enough room for his desk and memorabilia, among them the artifacts he’d brought back from Vietnam, his sales awards and his many family photo albums. He worked hard at that desk, building relationships, supporting his family, and establishing a thriving career.
In the last decade, our workspaces have evolved dramatically. At FCG, we’ve witnessed this in the kinds of office furniture we’ve sold in our stores.
In the 1990s, we offered giant desks with storage cabinets for computer towers and trays for keyboards. Then came armoires with built-in tables and lots of nooks and crannies for office supplies. Those armoire tables folded out to create a workspace during the day and could be tucked back in again at night. They were ideal for the early home-office pioneers.
Now, thanks to Covid, we’re seeing a renewed interest in desks and tables for the work-from-home crowd. We’re also seeing a lot of parents looking for desks for their home-bound children and teens. After a quarantine year of kids trying to do their schoolwork at the kitchen counter or sprawled all over the family-room, these parents now want to set up dedicated study and homework stations.
Whatever your needs, FCG has the perfect solution for you. Stop by one of our three stores in Hanover, Natick or Plymouth. You’ll be sure to find a piece of furniture that’ll suit you or your offspring, or both. And I don’t mind if you have to shoo me off of your newly-purchased piece. After all these years, I’m used to it.