College students reinvent furniture shopping experience with 'couch-in-a-box' business
Two college students brought their wits to the furniture industry to reinvent the shopping experience.
Burrow, the company founded by Stephen Kuhl and Kabeer Chopra, is a “couch-in-a-box” company that promises to deliver comfortable, well-made furniture at a fraction of the cost.
“If you ever bought a sofa, you know how painful the experience can be,” Kuhl, who is also Burrow’s CEO, told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo. “The reason why sofas cost so much money is mostly because of shipping. They are big and bulky [and] can’t be shipped in small containers. We figured out a way to ship a high-end sofa in small containers, in boxes and that allows us to cut out several hundred dollars in shipping costs and also deliver a lot faster.”
In May, Kuhl moved his business from Mexico to Mississippi after manufacturers realized it was a valuable business.
“We always wanted to produce in the U.S., and to be honest with you, when we started the company most U.S. manufacturers kind of laughed at us,” he said. “So we went to Mexico City through a business school classmate connection, started producing there, and then as soon as we had some traction … those manufacturers reached back out to us and said ‘hey, I think you guys might be onto something.’ So we were really happy to bring it back to the U.S.”
The collection features custom products including ottomans (starting at $295), armchairs ($495) and king sofas ($1545) with a choice of fabrics, legs, arm heights and lengths.
The furniture arrives within a week and includes free shipping. The sofas are packed in regular-sized shipping boxes, unfold, and require little time and no tools for assembly. Customers have 30 days to try out their products before returning.
The direct-to-consumer startup is also opening up its first flagship store in New York City where customers will have the opportunity to kick back, relax and hang out in a living room environment.
“Consumers don’t really want to just browse products. If they want to do that they can do it online,” he added. “We wanted to create a space where people can organically try out our products.”