Small New York City Furniture Assembly Company is Taking Business From The Industry Leaders like Impact Resources!
EZ Furniture Assembly & Interior Innovations, LLC was founded a little over two years ago by Christopher Purnell, a New York City entrepreneur who had spent most of his working career in marketing and sales and needed a change. It didn’t take long for him to see the opportunity that was in the RTA (Ready To Assemble) furniture industry. He started by answering Craigslist postings for someone requiring furniture assembly and from there with little more than a few tools and a passion to succeed he opened EZ Furniture Assembly which mostly consisted of assembling and installing Ikea, Crate & Barrel, & Pottery Barn Furniture. Today His Company has added Interior Innovations because his company of over a dozen trained technicians provides more than just furniture assembly. Purnell Says, “Our Company has grown so much by taking the time to listen to our customers and by sticking to our word. Now we assemble everything from exercise machines, playground equipment in which we became certified to do, as well as do kitchen cabinet assembly and installations at half what our competitors charge.” We have found from Mr. Purnell and speaking to other people in the industry that the major player is a company called “Impact Resources” which services retailers nationally. However, Mr. Purnell began to show us some of his accounts that were once theirs because of what he calls “corporate greed”. From what we have learned from one unsatisfied Impact customer is “that Impact hires its employees over the phone, which can’t be good, and that the customers we spoke to say that they will flat out lie and say they will have someone there at this date and time and nobody will show up, and if they do most of their work is horrible and forget about having them come back out to correct it” Mr. Purnell also took us on a tour of a few retailers that Impact services and started to show us how poorly they assembled the store’s display models. We saw pieces missing, door on upside down, backs falling off, drawers that were falling apart. We honestly felt sorry for the retailer because it was clear that nobody would buy this furniture after seeing it in this condition. However, Mr. Purnell went on to say that this allows him to compete with these national companies like Impact. “They provide poor service to not only the retailers that provide them with the work, but the customers they serve which can be a month or more after they buy the furniture from the store. I walk into stores and point out all these issues to the manager, take pictures and most likely get the name of a district manager and explain our practices vs. theirs. We explain how we hire our technicians on a face to face basis rather than over the phone along with a background check and a 2 week training course with our Project Manager no matter their level of experience because we want them to things our way. We also guarantee them that we will schedule an appointment for their customers within 72 hours from the time of purchase, as well as fully guarantee all our workmanship.” Explains Purnell. It clear to see how this entrepreneur became successful after listening to just a few phone calls from possible customers and prior ones. He took as much time as it took to explain everything to them and even scheduled one appointment at night because the customer didn’t get out of work until six o’clock. He explained that he was grateful for his team who is willing to go that extra mile for the company. Nevertheless, they are paid quite well compared to companies like Impact, Actually almost 3 times as much! The one call with a previous client is what amazed me, it was an elderly man who had a desk assembled three months prior and it seemed one of the door hinges became loose over time. I expected Mr. Purnell to tell him that wasn’t his fault, or explain to him to get a screwdriver and tighten it himself, but he asked if he would be home around three that afternoon, the man said yes and Mr. Purnell said he would be over to fix the problem then. Purnell went on to say, “about 80% of our business is word of mouth and call backs, and being in this type of business is about doing the next right thing. Some weeks I eat steak and some I starve but I know that in time our company will outlive the national greed monsters because they are like one hit wonders because they will only screw a customer once where we do whatever we can for them and they continue to call us. I intent to expand into other cities and states, but it will be in franchises where I will decide who will represent our company best. I am still amazed at how far we have grown in such a short time with such a limited budget, but it is just doing business like it was done 40 years ago when you did what you said and took pride in your work” Well, there is no doubt in my mind that Mr. Purnell and his company along with the franchisees will be successful and an asset to whichever community they serve. I guess this is just another lesson that being the biggest doesn’t always mean being the best. For more information about Mr. Purnell and EZ Furniture Assembly & Interior Innovations you can visit them online at www.ezfurnitureassembly.com. There are also many horror stories online about “Impact Resources”, one is located on “Rip-Off Reports”.
Written by: Jessica Farmington
The truth be told tribune
