When 33-year-old San Diego native Rainier Rabanzo moved into his two-bedroom Mission Valley apartment last year, he found himself going down the online furniture-hunting rabbit hole. You know — seeing a coffee table on Wayfair and then searching for it on Amazon and other sites to see if he could buy it for less, and end up finding 10 other coffee tables, ordering one and then returning it because it didn’t work with the couch.
“So, the entire six months I’ve been at the apartment, I’ve probably changed the setup of the living room and dining room five or six times,” he said with a sigh. “I’d buy something and then return it, because every time I’d buy something new, my past purchases wouldn’t go with the one I just bought. It was never-ending.”
When Fernish, a young home furnishings rental company, popped up on Rabanzo’s Instagram feed, he was immediately interested.
The Trenton Dining Table and Wexler Dining Chairs, options from Fernish. While furniture rental isn’t new, some newer companies are drawing interest from young, professional clients with an eye toward sustainability.
(Fernish)
“The first thing that caught my mind was ‘If you’re not happy, just return it,’ and then I looked at their inventory and it was really nice,” he said. “It was almost kind of curated because every piece of furniture made sense everywhere it went. And then I saw more appealing factors. I could change it when I get bored or if I don’t like it. And then I can own it at the end of the term or return it. The fact that I have that type of freedom without owning something or having something with the aesthetics I want is what got me into getting what I got.”
Among Rabanzo’s selections were Fernish’s Microgrid Grey Tandom Sleeper Sofa ($64 per month), the Andrea Sideboard ($19), and the Kendall Bar Height Table ($32), teamed with four Hugo Adjustable Stools in black ($8 each) and two Pyramid Barstools in black ($7 each).
The Ryze Sit/Stand Desk is among numerous office furniture options from Fernish.
(Fernish)
Fernish, which just launched to the San Diego market at the beginning of March, was founded in 2017 in Los Angeles by Michael Barlow and Lucas Dickey. Barlow is the company’s chief executive officer, and Dickey is chief product officer and functions as chief technology officer. The business, which serves Southern California and the Seattle area, came into being thanks to the frustrations Barlow in particular experienced as a young professional enduring the peripatetic life of frequent job moves. Barlow, who moved five times during his six years at JP Morgan, struggled to figure out not just how to furnish his temporary digs, but also what to do with the furniture before heading off to the next city.
“What he found was that it was much more time efficient for him to simply discard furniture before he moved on to the next place and next set of roommates,” explained Dickey. “He ended up buying furniture, throwing the furniture away, moving to a new apartment, buying furniture, doing it again, rinse, repeat.”
Add to that the fact that the purchase of any “adult” pieces may have been split by the roommates, and no one wanted to take possession because they didn’t know where it would go next and they didn’t want to pay to move it. In addition, some pieces would need to be disassembled, then reassembled at the new place. The prospect of going through that process repeatedly is daunting.
Customers of Fernish can rent couches, chairs, artwork and mirrors, dressers, tables, even patio furniture. At the end of their term, they can choose to return or buy.
(Fernish)
Furniture rental is certainly not a new concept. CORT may be the biggest name in that legacy business. And Fernish is one entrant among several — along with CasaOne and Fashion Furniture Rental, which are active in the San Diego market, and Feather, which is currently not — that are taking on the “premium furniture rental” e-commerce mantle to attract, primarily, a young professional “adulting” market like Rabanzo, in the 22 to 35 age range.
If you look at their product offerings, which range from bed frames and mattresses, dressers and nightstands, to sofas, coffee tables, side tables, consoles, and an array of office furnishings, outdoor furnishings, lighting, decorative pillows and TVs, you’ll find a similar midcentury-modern aesthetic. And, as Rabanzo observed, it all seems curated in a mix-and-match approach.
Fernish’s offerings come primarily from home furnishings companies Crate & Barrel, CB2, EQ3 and Floyd, but a company spokesperson also said they’re working with a number of suppliers and are working on a Fernish line of furniture they hope to introduce soon. If the furniture and textiles have a similar feel, it’s also because they have to be able to be cleaned and repaired in a way that allows them to move on to the next customer instead of being discarded. In fact, one of the company’s selling points is its claim of sustainability.
Free delivery and setup are convenience factors for customers, typically in the 22 to 35 age range.
(Fernish)
According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s latest report, approximately 9.7 million tons of furniture and furnishings ended up in U.S. landfills in 2018. Barlow and Dickey are seeking to replace what they call “fast furniture” with items that are made to last. The Fernish website says that last year, the company saved 247 tons of furniture from the landfill and 1,042 metric tons of carbon dioxide from entering the environment.
Fernish customers can rent items up to 12 months, with a minimum time period of two months and minimum payment of $45. Don’t love what you have? Within the first three days, customers can exchange or return items. At the end of the rental term, they have the option of extending it, swapping items out for something else, or keeping items by paying the difference between what’s been paid to date and its total value.
San Diego customer Rainier Rabanzo was able to pick and choose dining tables and seating options. His bar-height table, four adjustable stools and two fixed barstools from Fernish total $78 per month.
(Rainier Rabanzo)
Delivery and setup are free, although contactless delivery in these COVID-19 days is also available. Did you spill, rip or chip something? Did your cat deliver a gross hairball to an area rug or armchair? That’s no problem, they say. The company claims that with commercial grade upholstery, most stains can be removed, and a furniture leg or other part can be replaced.
“We expect wear and tear that can be refurnished,” said Kristin Smith, Fernish’s president and chief operating officer. “In very rare, exceptional cases, we do have to ask the customer to pay for a replacement.”
Rabanzo just signed a new yearlong lease for his apartment, so he’ll be hitting the Fernish website again to outfit the bedrooms.
“At last, I can see myself not going through 10 different websites again to look for something,” he said. “I follow Fernish on Instagram and, as more things come in through them, I’ll probably keep looking at them. I’m already thinking I’ll buy some of the pieces. And if I move, I’ll probably still rent new things from them again because of that ease. It means I don’t have to look for movers. It’s kind of a one-stop shop.”
Golden is a San Diego freelance writer and blogger.
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