Why Furniture Concept Stores Still Matter (And the Destination Showrooms Worth the Trip)
In an age of same-day delivery, TikTok trends and hyper-convenience, you might assume that the humble showroom is a dying breed. But in the world of interiors and furniture, something interesting is happening: increasingly, people are craving slower, more tactile, more intentional experiences. Enter the destination showroom.
These aren't just places to browse dining tables. They're carefully choreographed spaces designed to inspire, immerse, and connect. The kind of spaces you plan a weekend around. They blend design, hospitality, and storytelling - turning passive browsers into loyal fans.
Why do destination showrooms work so well?
Destination showrooms bridge the emotional gap that often exists between brand and buyer. By inviting customers into a thoughtfully curated space, brands can express their identity in three dimensions, letting visitors not only see and touch products, but understand the lifestyle they represent. These spaces encourage meaningful interaction. A chance to chat with knowledgeable staff, soak up the brand’s aesthetic, and build trust through experience rather than just transaction. In a world where personal connection is increasingly rare in retail, these spaces help to humanise the brand and create lasting impressions that go far beyond the sale.
For furniture and homeware brands, building a connection with customers is one of the biggest hurdles right now. Shoppers are more skeptical, more price-conscious, and more overwhelmed than ever. The market is flooded with brands offering similar aesthetics, while short-form content constantly tells you there's a cheaper dupe just a click away. No wonder trust is hard to earn.
Online-only retailers have convenience in their corner, but what they often lack is feeling. A linen sofa might look beautiful on screen, but until you’ve sunk into it, run your hand over the fabric, and seen how it catches the light, it’s just pixels.
And let’s not forget that furniture is a chunky investment. People need confidence before they spend. They want to know that the brand they’re buying from is worth it.
Layer onto that a broader shift in consumer behaviour, towards values-led purchases, slower decision-making, and a craving for unique, shareable real-life experiences, and you’ve got the perfect environment for the destination showroom to thrive.
What makes a great destination showroom?
A beautiful location – Where you choose to place a destination showroom is everything. The setting should feel intentional and aspirational, whether it’s a rustic barn (like Nkuku), a country manor (Restoration Hardware), or a Georgian townhouse (The Hambledon). It should make people want to plan a trip around it. The architecture and landscape should amplify the story you’re telling.
Curation over clutter – Every object should feel considered. These aren’t warehouses. They’re styled, layered, and lived-in. Invest in your visual team and hire creatives who know how to build a vibe, not just fill a room.
Incentivised dwell time – Add in elements that encourage customers to stay a while: cafés (like Bamford), gardens (Restoration Hardware), creative workshops or events (Maker&Son). These aren’t extras, they’re extensions of your brand experience that help deepen emotional connection.
Genuine hospitality – It’s not just about the products. It’s about how you make people feel in the space. Warm welcomes. Thoughtful, informed staff. Great coffee. Comfort without pretension. Training your showroom team to be excellent hosts is just as important as how you dress the space.
Sensory immersion – This is where destination showrooms beat digital, hands down. The smell of the room, the softness of a throw, the grain of the wood, the way light pools on a velvet cushion. These textures create lasting impressions and help people fall in love with what you’re selling.
The best destination showrooms and concept stores
These are the kinds of spaces that go beyond retail. They're day-trip worthy. Holiday worthy. Design pilgrimage-worthy. And most importantly, they make you feel something.
Restoration Hardware (RH England) – Aynho Park, Oxfordshire
A US heavyweight made a dramatic UK debut with their Aynho Park showroom. Set in a restored 17th-century manor house, RH England is equal parts gallery, dining experience, and interiors fantasy. Monumental scale meets meticulous styling, it’s a masterclass in retail theatre.
Nkuku – Totnes, Devon
Set in a restored barn, Nkuku combines ethically sourced furniture and homeware with a café and countryside views. A beautifully tactile, soul-soothing space.
Galerie Half – Los Angeles, USA
A destination in every sense, Galerie Half is a design-lover’s dream tucked into a sun-drenched corner of Melrose Avenue. The space is known for its museum-worthy mix of mid-century, antique, and rustic European pieces, all arranged with soulful precision. It’s less retail, more reverence with patina, texture, and authenticity in every corner.
Petersham Nurseries – Richmond, London
A lifestyle destination disguised as a garden centre, Petersham Nurseries combines rustic elegance with slow-living charm. Alongside its vintage and antique furniture, the glasshouse café, floristry, and curated homeware offer a soulful escape from city life. It’s less of a shopping trip, more of a gentle exhale.
The Cotswold Company – Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire
Nestled in a classic Cotswolds market town, this flagship showroom by The Cotswold Company feels more like a thoughtfully furnished home than a store. With room sets styled for real life and staff who act more like hosts than salespeople, it’s a calm, welcoming space to explore their timeless, crafted furniture at your own pace.
Barker and Stonehouse – Teesside, North Yorkshire
This flagship destination blends bold, contemporary design with functionality and warmth. Alongside its expansive furniture collections, the showroom features Stanley's Coffee House & Kitchen, a bright, welcoming café where shoppers can recharge. The industrial-meets-natural interiors are a masterclass in visual merchandising, making it an inspiring day out for design lovers. One of the UK's largest family-run furniture retailers, the Teesside store features Stanley's Coffee House & Kitchen. Set in a beautifully designed space, it blends contemporary furniture shopping with relaxed dining, creating a full-day destination experience.
Redbrick Mill – Batley, West Yorkshire
Dubbed the 'Northern design quarter', Redbrick Mill is home to over 40 carefully curated retailers including Heal’s, Loaf, and Made. With stylish interiors and a destination café, this converted textile mill is a one-stop interiors playground that draws design lovers from across the UK.
Loaf – Battersea, London
More than a showroom, Loaf's Battersea 'Loaf Shack' is a relaxed, personality-packed space that brings its laid-back brand ethos to life. Customers are encouraged to flop, bounce, and test every piece, surrounded by cosy interiors, a record player, and even complimentary coffee. It’s a soft-sell experience designed to feel like home.
Maker&Son – West Sussex
Their new countryside showroom is as plush as their furniture. Think immersive lifestyle scenes, live music, and sofas you’ll never want to leave.
Homebarn – Little Marlow, Buckinghamshire
Set in a beautifully weathered barn in the Buckinghamshire countryside, Homebarn is a haven for lovers of rustic, reclaimed and antique furniture. With its curated mix of one-off vintage finds and understated modern pieces, it feels more like discovering a secret than visiting a shop. The setting adds to the charm, this is a space that oozes character and calm.
Another Country – Dorset
Sustainable, craft-led furniture with a modernist sensibility. Their space is calm, honest, and deeply thoughtful.
In the race for convenience, don’t underestimate the power of presence. A great showroom can transform a brand from "that place online" into a lived, breathed, felt experience. It becomes a memory. A conversation. A bookmark in someone’s life.
And that’s the kind of marketing you can’t fake.
What are your favourite destination showrooms and concept stores?
A note from Jess
Before launching The Doers, I cut my teeth in brand and marketing at West Elm, a brand that, back in the day, really understood the power of the destination showroom. It wasn’t just about selling furniture. It was about creating a space you wanted to hang out in, be inspired by, maybe even Instagram. In-store cafe, huge living wall, excellent customer service. That experience shaped how I think about physical retail today and something I heavily advise on to all our interior brand clients at The Doers: not as a transactional space, but as a brand’s most powerful storytelling tool.
This roundup is a love letter to that philosophy, and a celebration of some of the stores still doing it brilliantly.
