Modestly priced furniture still comes at a price. Order a sleek coffee table online, and what you receive is some bulky package, complete with one too many pieces all individually wrapped. Barely decipherable directions don't help, and after hours of trying to jam leg B into hole D, you're left feeling frustrated; you don't even like the latest addition to your living room, but you put too much hard work in to return the thing.
Imagine plopping a box on your living room floor, however, and, within five seconds of opening it, having a solid-wood coffee table assembled. Even if you don't like the looks of it, all it takes is five seconds to maneuver the table back into its packaging — and that table can be returned for free.
Although it sounds like a dream, it's a fantasy Greycork is turning into a reality in Boston's Seaport.
"Our view is that, if you want modestly priced furniture, it's just inconvenient, boring and generic," said Greycork CEO John Humphrey. "There's a ton of packaging when you open up the box, and it takes a while to assemble. Because it took a while to assemble, you're probably not going to return it. There's a lot of friction."
Only 3.8 percent of furniture purchases happen online, according to Humphrey, largely because of that friction. The Greycork team wants to bring that figure up to 14 percent in five years, however.
Humphrey most recently served as a senior analyst at Arsenal Venture Partners, but grew up working in manufacturing facilities. He became familiar with the operations and the people, and decided to leave venture capital to return to his roots. "I thought we could make furniture a lot more convenient for people," Humphrey said.
He turned to the Rhode Island School of Design to find people who shared in that vision, discovering alumnus Myung Chul "Bruce" Kim via the RISD Portfolios network and Alec Babala, who was then a senior at the Institute. Kim brought the furniture design experience and Babala, the expertise in user experience. Partnered with Humphrey's background in manufacturing, the trio had what they hope will change the e-commerce game.
The Greycork website launched two weeks ago, and features furniture that's American-made, easy to set up and ranges in price from $500 to $950. Greycork is currently working with three Massachusetts manufacturers, located in Somerset, Rutland and Amesbury. Yet, despite the local focus, orders have been coming in from all over the United States. Eyewear darling Warby Parker, who had their own hand in changing e-commerce, even caught wind of the startup and ordered two tables.
Greycork raised roughly $300,000 in debt financing in May and, according to Humphrey, is now generating revenue. The team will be looking to raise a bigger round, though.
And they think they have the model to make that happen — especially in Boston, which is home to fellow furniture companies Wayfair and CustomMade. Whereas Wayfair is more "an Amazon for the home," said Humphrey, and CustomMade, "a marketplace connecting makers and custom goods," Greycork is "a direct-to-consumer company building a brand on top of a proprietary product."
To help highlight the convenience of Greycork's furniture, the team has been hosting a series of dinner parties, called "Let's Eat." Every Thursday at 8 p.m., the startup visits a group of six friends they haven't met yet, and with pizza and the furniture to eat it on.
"We want to get people's eyes and ears on the furniture," said Humphrey, who noted they will begin shipping products in mid-November.
And if you like uniquely made, affordably priced furniture, you'll want to get your eyes and ears on it, too.
Images via Greycork
