Sunday, August 5, 2018

Texas Family Owns First Ever Black-Owned Furniture Brokerage

Get The Scoop Weekly On Southeast Queens. Subscribe to Our Mailing List. Receive the Latest Events, News, Jobs, and Top Community Economic Development Stories Like this one Click Here
-------

 Houston, TX  -- Texas Wholesale Furniture Co., based in Houston, Texas, is owned and operated by Prairie View A&M Alum, husband and wife team, Brandon and Naima Townsend. 
 
 

Article Or Event Continues After Sponsor's Message Below...


Please Support Our Ad Sponsors Who Make This Community News Blog Possible. And Don't Forget To Tell Them You Saw Their Ad in The Scoop!

Farmers Pizza
 Farmers Pizza Menu


Article Continues Below...
 
Their company works with 200 manufacturers nationwide, and specializes in wholesaling high-end residential and office furniture.

Unlike traditional retail furniture stores, Texas Wholesale Furniture Co. allows the general public to buy furniture factory direct at wholesale prices. On the business front, this power couple is changing the way furniture is bought, using social media to create jobs and business opportunities nationwide. The company projects bringing on 500 brokers and sales representatives throughout the U.S. by 2020.

Their story

Texas Wholesale Furniture Co. was founded by two newlyweds, Brandon and Naima Townsend, upon graduating from Prairie View A&M University and purchasing their first home. The couple was in search of high-end designer furniture at factory direct prices.

After shopping around, the couple quickly realized the advertisements and promises of up to 70% off at Houston retail furniture stores did not match what was actually available in their showrooms. "The ads and TV commercials were often a tease to get customers into the store and upsell," Brandon says.

Remaining diligent in their search, they contacted family friend Jermon Malone who knew a few furniture manufacturers and as a result they were able to furnish their home at 70% off retail.

Naima remembers purchasing a custom living room set factory direct for $1,800. A week later, she saw the same exact set at a major Houston area furniture store for $3,699 plus tax! That was the moment it all came together. The couple immediately began to help friends and family save their hard earned coins by taking them directly to the manufacturer.

"In the beginning it was just another stream of income, and we would use the extra earnings to invest or take a vacation. It was really about helping our friends and family save. We didn't have a website or anything. If you knew about it and asked, we would help you. We're not pushy sales people," Naima says.

At this time, the couple also realized they were able to create jobs for delivery and sales people they knew. Creating jobs for people changed the dynamic as they were able to play the "Black Wall Street" game by empowering and partnering with other businesses in the Black community.

Turning a side business into an empire

Over the years, however, Texas Wholesale Furniture Co., which was just a side business at the time, began to grow and so did the careers of the two young entrepreneurs. Naima was working towards becoming an athletic director equipped with her Masters in Education Administration. Brandon was an engineer/ data analyst at Lockheed Martin and NASA with a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering climbing the corporate ladder.

With a newborn son, a 45-minute commute to work, and the side business growing, the couple soon decided that time was more precious than what the corporate world had to offer. So, in Brandon's words they "prayed about it and let God order their steps." Naima transitioned out of her teaching position, and began to run the business full time. Brandon remained working as an engineer, but focused on sales and marketing. As word spread, people from all over Texas began to call and thats when it became apparent to the couple they needed to work with more manufacturers in order to meet the needs of their newly established client base.

They were working out of their office near the Houston Galleria at the time, and they considered opening a regular retail furniture store. However, they saw that no store carried all of the inventory they needed so they began to develop personal relationships with manufacturers who were open to new sales strategies. Once 20 manufacturers were on board, their furniture brokerage came to life.

Today, Brandon and Naima contract and employ several other minority-owned businesses and incorporate them into their projects. Now their web site, www.TexasWholesaleFurniture.com, is a force to be reckoned with creating jobs nationwide via social media and using their platform to create business opportunities for young entrepreneurs.

Follow them on Instagram at @texaswholesalefurnitureco or call 832-590-0697 to learn more about this exciting Black-owned furniture brokerage, the first of its kind!


Sponsor's Messages Below

Enjoy A Tasty Meal At The New Burger King In
St. Albans, New York

Burger-King-St-Albans


 Experience This Modern, Spacious, And Affordable Place To Eat. For More Info Click Here




Give The Gift Of Beautiful And Affordable Photo Realistic Or Ethnic Art For The Holidays

World Class Sophisticated Art Can Portray Your Love This Holiday Season  - Discover Exceptional Black Art, Get Exclusive Custom Framing, and Receive Expert Photography from Renowned Local Artist Click Here


Beautify Your Home and Accentuate Your Life - Discover Exceptional Black Art, Get Exclusive Custom Framing, and Receive Expert Photography from Renowned Local Artist Click Here


Checkout Similar Articles Below


Share 


Posted by community events coordinator, Nzinga Lonstein Austin, is a prolific blogger who writes on the entertainment industry and issues for people with developmental and physical challenges.

She is presently in high school looking to have a career in video, film, and media. You can see more of her entertainment writing on Lonstein Movies.


About the Southeast Queens Scoop - is the premier website and only publication offering daily news and updates on the events, culture, issues, and is dedicated to the business and economic development in this largely black historic community.

The publication targets the over 350,000 residents in the Southeast Queen and Jamaica Queens area. It promotes to over 40,000 potential viewers in social media, mobile devices and search engines like Google and Bing!  To learn more about how to promote your business or organization on the Scoop or online Click Here


 No Spam Only The Scoop On Southeast Queens


Since you are here think about this please.  Do You Want The Southeast Queens Scoop To Continue To Promote Empowering News and Events largely ignored by the corporate owned mainstream media in our area?


Since most local businesses don't have large ad budgets then please consider donating to ensure we can continue our media efforts.  We appreciate all contributions ($5, $10, $15, $20, +) no amount is too small. Please donate now below or read more on donations.



No comments:

Post a Comment