There’s a good reason we regularly attend furniture trade shows and visit our manufacturers; we want to see, touch and try the furniture we buy for the showroom. Stocking such an enormous range of furniture is a massive commitment, so we want to ensure that the furniture we offer our customers is the standard and quality they expect from John Dick & Son. We could explore and buy from many excellent manufacturers’ brochures and enticing websites without leaving our showroom, but we don’t.

Experience has shown us that buying furniture without first seeing it is challenging and invariably disappointing. It’s not like buying an electrical appliance or the latest gadget; buyers can research these things online and trust the reviews of others, and if they meet your requirements, you can reasonably expect them to do the job. Even when buying fashion items, you can order a selection and try them in the comfort of your home; then, you can return the things you don’t like or want.

Buying a new sofa or dining room suite is very different. Firstly, it’s not a regular purchase, so you probably would appreciate the advice of knowledgeable staff. It’s a significant investment, so you need to know what you buy suits your needs. Customer reviews are helpful for certain purchases but does the fact another person found a sofa comfortable mean you will too?

Then we come to the challenges of colour, scale and build quality. Colour rendering on computer screens is inconsistent; how can you be sure it’s the perfect colour and shade for your home? They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but images don’t reveal a piece of furniture’s sturdiness or build quality. Have you ever been surprised to sit on what looks like a comfortable seat and be let down by the experience? Or have you been surprised that an item of furniture is might lighter than it looks? That’s because the underlying materials used to build it are not as solid as they should be.

For the reasons above, we invest the time and money to visit exhibitions and factories to try the furniture that arrives in the showroom. They are the same reasons why you should also try before you buy. We encourage customers to fling off their shoes and lounge on the sofa as they would in their homes; if they do that, they can determine if it’s right for them. And only by seeing the furniture first-hand can you appreciate the build quality that’s gone into making it.

We’ve met many customers who have made the wrong choice and bought online, only to be disappointed and, ultimately, out of pocket. We are an independent family-run business with almost 70 years of experience working directly with some of the finest furniture makers in the UK and Europe. We will continue to invest the time and money to bring the best possible quality to our furniture store so that you can purchase with the comfort of knowing you’ve made the right choice.

We invite you to visit our furniture store and see for yourself; we are sure you will be pleasantly surprised at the range of styles, and we’ll even provide a coffee while you do some good old-fashioned physical browsing.