Hawaiian furniture store opens first mainland showroom in Las Vegas
A Hawaiian furniture store is taking the Las Vegas nickname “ninth island” to heart with its first mainland location in the valley.
Valyou Furniture opened a showroom at the shopping center Tivoli Village, marking its third retail location that includes two in Hawaii. It plans to host a grand opening Tuesday.
The brand focuses on accessible luxury offering shoppers stylish, modern housewares and furniture at different price points, said Eddie Castillo, chief marketing officer. The showroom displays a range of styling options from industrial to coastal.
“Having a millennial viewpoint of furniture is fresh and innovative, that’s why people lean toward us,” Castillo said. “In other showrooms, you may feel like they’re all trying to sell you things or the price points are too crazy — it’s too much of a sale. For us, it’s more, ‘Let’s help you live your best life by getting what you need. Feel free to sleep on the bed.’”
Valyou chose Las Vegas for its first continental U.S. location because of its proximity to customers and its cultural connections. Products can easily ship from Vegas to California and Texas — where many of its e-commerce customers live — and the valley’s substantial Hawaiian and Pacific Islander population made the market a natural fit, Castillo said.
“Even though it’s in the desert, it’s a very small, consolidated space,” he said. “So being invited by the community is amazing. We see it as another island that we’re a part of.”
Beyond furniture, customers shopping at Valyou can also use its complimentary in-house interior design services. Out-of-state customers can use the service through video, too.
Interior designer Amina El Kadiri said the service is popular for customers unsure of how to complete their projects or who normally can’t afford a high-end personalized design service.
“It’s a whole process,” El Kadiri said. “We are working with them from the beginning to the end of the process in store. They can see the furniture in person, they can come in and do a store meeting so when we finish working on their project, they can see it.”
Valyou sources its inventory from six brands including Mario Capasa, Ohdome and Lemons & Me. It boasts a selection of more than 10,000 items, the company said, and its prices are meant to offer more variety to customers. For example, a dining table on its website ranges from about $200 up to an estimated $1,500.
“We believe furniture is not only for the select few, it should be for everyone,” he said. “Furniture being aspirational, a thing you see in magazines and on TV, you just want to aspire to have that type of New Age furniture without sacrificing a price point.”
McKenna Ross is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Contact her at mross@reviewjournal.com. Follow @mckenna_ross_ on Twitter.