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Chattanooga: Smart opens furniture store on Market Street

By: Brian Lazenby
(Contact)

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Stephen Culp

The first prototypes for Stephen Culp’s furniture business were built in a college professor’s garage almost 10 years ago.

“I was in law school at the time and literally woke up with some designs in my head,” Mr. Culp said. “I went to a local art store and bought Styrofoam, balsa and every other type of construction material and began making prototypes.”

The first designs were a success, and several Smart Furniture pieces now decorate the Google company offices in Mountain View, Calif.

Mr. Culp, 38, then launched Smart Furniture in Chattanooga in 2001 as primarily a Web-based and catalog business.

However, he recently opened a store — dubbed a studio — at 430 Market St.

“It was a decision to round out our presentation to the public,” Mr. Culp said. “We decided to do it in the place we call home.”

The studio is Smart Furniture’s first, but Mr. Culp said he anticipates opening more in the future.

Gregg Juster and his wife, Dee Dee, bought some Smart Furniture shelving units for their Lofts on Main apartment.

“It is almost like art on the wall,” Mr. Juster said. “We get comments on it anytime someone sees it.”

Mr. Juster said he is especially impressed with the ease at which the units can be assembled and disassembled.

“It went together very easily, and it comes apart easily,” he said. “You can take it down and transfer it just about anywhere.”

Whether buying online or in the studio, Mr. Culp said he can get customers a customized unit from concept to delivery in about a week.

“People are less interested in waiting and more interested in getting what they want with no hassles,” he said.

Mr. Culp declined to provide revenue figures for the company, but he said sales have grown between 50 and 100 percent in the last couple years.

Smart Furniture, which has about 40 employees, markets its own furniture line as well as selections from Herman Miller and Blu Dot. What makes the company’s concept fresh is the ability for shoppers to customize their purchases and visualize what the pieces will look like in their home through Smart Furniture’s “design on demand” feature on its Web site, www.smartfurniture.com, which also is available in the studio.

“You see smart cars, smart phones, and they all have an element of personalization to them,” Mr. Culp said. “We put a lot of emphasis on the individual. The commonality (of these furniture lines) is they all have elements that can be customized.”

The new Smart Furniture showroom is divided into multiple rooms with each space decorated differently. Mr. Culp calls the rooms “vignettes” and said it makes choosing furniture for the office or home more enjoyable for the shopper.

The studio walls are decorated with paintings from local artists, which he said is part of Smart Furniture’s philosophy of supporting creative arts from the area.

“We want to celebrate the community that we are a part of,” he said. “The downtown area is obviously growing, and growing in a way that Smart Furniture fits with.”

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