ABC Carpet & Home Ventures Into Online Customized Furnishings
MILAN — Beloved by New Yorkers for decades, ABC Carpet & Home has been a city shopping destination for home furnishings and design since 1897. Monday, with the focus on expanding the omnichannel experience for its modern day customers, the retailer launched its first customizable furniture experience.
The emblem of this new experience is its Cobble Hill collection, which is made in the USA exclusively for ABC Carpet & Home and features a variety of modern luxury furniture, including chairs, sectionals, beds and more. According to the company, shoppers can now digitally customize the fabrics and colors of each piece of the Cobble Hill collection with more than 80 colors and sustainably sourced materials and fabric options including cotton, velvet, linen and performance blends. This service is available for U.S. customers only, ABC Carpet & Home said.
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“This initiative was a strategic decision to invest in technology that allows our customers to grow with us and create truly unique pieces for their homes. Modern consumers care now more than ever about having furniture that fits their style and lasts a lifetime, so we wanted to provide them with a wide range of custom options to create furniture they love and can see in their homes for years to come,” said the company’s vice president, merchandising and e-commerce, Suki LaBarre in an interview with WWD, adding that this is just the first step in the company’s furniture customization plans.
To appeal to a broad range of customers, Cobble Hill was initially launched in ABC Carpet & Home stores more than 10 years ago, as the company’s first exclusive furniture line. Made in the U.S., each piece is handmade in North Carolina and sourced from Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI)-certified materials, LaBarre added.
Expansion within the digital space is a priority of the company, which went through a bankruptcy proceeding in 2021, LaBarre said.
“We plan to continue growing and evolving over the next few years with a hyper-focus on our digital experience. This new functionality with Cobble Hill is a great example of how we’re growing our website and bringing the in-store magic that New Yorkers know and love to our online business. With this hyper-focus on digital, we plan to increase our online penetration to the total business by 35 percent this year alone and expand beyond that in the coming years,” LaBarre added.
ABC, which started at the end of the 19th century with a pushcart selling carpets in the Lower East Side, moved to its 888 Broadway address in 1961. Known for creating a magical experience, the physical space houses a restaurant alongside its emporium of accessories, decor and furnishings. The company is now owned by a private equity firm which has been focused on expanding the business, which just celebrated its 125th anniversary. “Our goal as a leadership team is to take ABC’s incredible legacy and grow it beyond New York through a focus on the digital shopping experience,” LaBarre said.
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