Albany Furniture Review

There is some irony in naming a furniture company that limits its range of sofas to just three items after one of the most diverse neighborhoods in Chicago. But by limiting consumer choice alongside an array of other measures designed to make buying furniture easier, Albany Park has shown they prioritize substance alongside style. To do so is a rarity in a furniture industry that produces a wealth of excellent sofas with little care for practical matters. What is the point of buying a beautiful and comfortable sofa if you cannot get it into your house?

Recently, Albany Park’s reputation has blossomed. If you are in the market for a new sofa, they have probably come onto your radar. Find out what we think about them, and whether their argument for low-stress furniture stands up to scrutiny.

About Albany Park

Albany Park was founded in 2017 by Darryl and Jessica Sharpton. One day, the couple had to buy a new sofa but they hated the experience. The Sharpton’s identified several problems with sofa retailers. They found the showrooms to be draining with far too many choices and once a decision was made, the sofa would take at least six weeks to arrive. The pains of buying a sofa did not end there. The Sharpton’s found it near impossible to get their sofa into position, having to navigate steep stairwells and narrow doors.

While waiting for their sofa to arrive, the Sharpton’s thought about how they could revolutionize the couch industry. They realized that by restricting customers to three customizable options, consumer fatigue could be avoided. The Sharpton’s have also made the couch installation process easier by dividing their products into maneuverable boxes and partnering with UPS to allow for three-day delivery.

With their vision, the Sharpton’s launched Albany Park and luckily they both had the expertise to make it a success. Darryl is a fantastic designer with product development and market specialisms. Jessica heads up the all-important logistical side of Albany Park. Together, they aim to give customers an unmatched customer experience.

Albany Furniture Review

Albany Sofa

The Albany Sofa is a standard three-seater straight sofa, designed to fit with the stylistic and spatial demands of the modern home. This sofa is fairly large at 87 inches wide and will become the centerpiece of any front room.

The Albany Sofa is designed for comfort as well as style. The cushions have been well upholstered with a reversible plush fabric. The cushions make use of a “spring suspension system” to make sure you feel sturdy regardless of your size. The suspension coils are embedded within a high-density memory foam to ensure the utmost in comfort.

Like all Albany Park sofas and seats, the Albany Sofa is well-constructed as well as comfortable. The frame is built from high-quality hardwood that has been dried in a kiln to ensure stability. You can be certain that your Albany Sofa will last.

The Albany Sofa is incredibly customizable. The fabric is available in nine excellent colors. They range from a stylishly minimal grey to a bright green or blue velvet. The legs of the Albany Sofa are also customizable. Again, you can choose between equally stylish minimalist and maximalist colors. The options are walnut or gold.

Bringing a sofa into your home and constructing it can be a very stressful process, especially if the sofa is too wide for your doors. Albany has considered this when constructing their sofa. Your Albany Sofa will arrive divided into boxes designed to fit through doors. Once it is in your house, the company claims that you will be able to assemble the sofa easily and without tools.

The Albany Sofa normally retails at $1,099. However, it is currently reduced to $995 and comes with free shipping. It is also available to be paid for as part of a 0% APR contract for $83 a month.

Park Sectional Sofa

The Park Sectional Sofa offers Albany customers a sophisticated high capacity sofa. It is an L-shaped sofa with a capacity of three on the back and another one or two on the side. The extended side section can also be used as a comfortable footrest, allowing for a reclined seating position.

The Park Sectional Sofa also differs slightly from the rest of the Albany range in its construction. While it holds all of the stability of the hardwood frame from the standard Albany sofa, it offers users even more comfort than the memory foam standard to all Albany products. The memory foam layer of the cushions is topped with synthetic feathers. The synthetic feathers offer a vegan and cruelty-free alternative. Yet, they maintain all the comfort and softness of real goose feathers.

The Park Sectional Sofa also comes with slightly more customization. It has the full Albany Park range of colors for the fabric as well as the legs. But, you can also choose the orientation of the sofa. When purchasing your Park Sectional Sofa, you should decide whether the L-shaped extension will work best on the left or the right-hand side of the sofa.

The Park Sectional Sofa is Albany Park’s most sophisticated sofa and it comes with a price tag to match. It normally retails for $2,495 but it is currently on offer at $1,895 with free shipping. It can also be bought through a monthly 0% APR payment plan, with each month costing $158.

Albany Loveseat

The Albany Loveseat is like the standard Albany Sofa, but it is designed for couples rather than families. This sofa is a two-seater that is perfect for cuddling up with your partner in front of the TV.

Like the Albany Sofa, the Albany Loveseat is very customizable. It too comes in nine different fabric colors, from grey to blue to olive. The legs are also customizable and you can choose between modern gold legs and heritage walnut legs.

The Albany Loveseat shares the quality and comfort of all of its sister products. Its frame is again, a kiln-dried hardwood for reassuring stability. The cushions feature the Albany Park suspension system and high-density memory foam.

The Albany Loveseat comes with a reduced price to match its reduced capacity. It normally retails at $899 but it can currently be bought on offer for $795. The Albany Loveseat can be bought on a payment plan with 0% APR. The monthly payments are $67.

Park Ottoman

The Park Ottoman is a highly versatile piece of furniture in the traditional Ottoman style. It can be paired with any sofa or armchair to act as a stylish footrest. But it also is sturdy and comfortable enough to be used as a seat in its own right. It is a smaller piece of furniture, weighing just 30lbs and being 36 inches wide. While not defining the style of a room, it can add chic sophistication to any home.

Although it is not a sofa, this ottoman is constructed very similarly to the rest of the Albany Park range. It features reversible cushions, a kiln-dried wooden frame, and a memory foam suspension system. Like the Park Sectional Sofa, Albany’s ottoman features a layer of synthetic feathers to provide optimum comfort.

The ottoman is also like the rest of the Albany Park range in its customizability. It comes in the full Albany range of nine colors, and the legs can come in gold or black.

Albany’s Park Ottoman is their simplest piece of furniture so it comes with a reduced price. The ottoman can normally be purchased for $595 but it is currently on offer for $395. You can also decide to pay for it with monthly payments at 0% APR. Each month will cost $33 until the ottoman has been paid off.

Albany Furniture Customers Reviews

Albany Park is fairly well-reviewed online. All of their products manage to surpass four stars on Amazon.

Customers are impressed by the quality of the fabrics used by Albany Park. One reviewer who used to work in a tailoring shop was impressed that the fabric was clearly not synthetic, but used premium natural materials. This reviewer did note that their sofa was on the firmer side. The firmness of a couch is a matter of personal preference and you should consider that you will not sink into your Albany Park sofa.

Albany Park prides itself on how easy it is to install their sofas and luckily the customers agree. One reviewer lived in a small condo on the fourth floor. Normally installing a sofa in a condo would be a nightmare, but this reviewer managed to easily get the sofa up in just two elevator trips. The whole process took roughly 10 minutes.

Sadly, Albany Park’s good products and logistical management are not backed up by quality customer service. A reviewer described their battle with the customer service team when they attempted to cancel their order. Their numerous attempts via social media, phone, email, and the Albany Park website were unsuccessful. Eventually, this customer was forced to turn away the delivery driver when he delivered the couch. Although they were able to get a refund, the stress this caused thoroughly pushed this customer away from using Albany Park again.

Sign Up for Albany Park

Albany Park does not offer customers the chance to open an account with them. Any purchases will be made on a one-off basis. The closest thing Albany Park has to members is their email list, which you can sign up for on their website. By selecting the “Get $100 Off” button in the bottom left-hand corner of their main webpage, you can give Albany Park your email. As a member of their email list, you will receive news about the company and exclusive offers.

Where to Buy Albany Furniture

Albany Park is all about changing expectations of the furniture industry. They do not have vast furniture showrooms displaying hundreds of different sofas. Albany Park believes that showrooms are an unnecessary cost that transfers onto the customer.

The only place to buy Albany Park furniture is online. While Albany Park’s website is the most obvious avenue to go down, it is not your only option. Some other online retailers, such as Amazon, stock Albany Park furniture. However, they do so at a much smaller scale than Albany Park and Amazon runs into availability issues with their Albany Park stocks.

Albany Park Shipping and Return Policy

All Albany products feature a good warranty. In the initial ten years that you own an Albany Park piece, any defects will mean Albany Park will replace it with a brand new piece. After ten years, they will replace or recover any defective parts. In this second period, Albany Park will only replace the whole piece if there is a major defect. However, using your product for any commercial purpose or subjecting it to unusual wear and tear will void your warranty.

Albany Park also has a period where they allow returns of non-defective sofas. You can return your product within 30 days of delivery but you will have to pay 10% of what you paid to cover postage. If you do not have the original packaging, you will be charged 20%.

The return delivery fee is waived if you decide that you want a replacement rather than a refund. If you receive the product and you decide that the color you have chosen is wrong, then you can choose a sofa with a different color free of charge.

Regardless of the return delivery fee, Albany Park does have a fair return policy. However, Albany Park only accepts returns in the first 30 days if the sofa is in a “like new” condition. Whether it is “like new” is up to the discretion of Albany Park. If you are returning an Albany Park product, it is sensible to take pictures of it before returning it. In the unlikely event that you have a dispute with Albany Park then you can use the photos to argue you sent the sofa off in a “like new” condition.

Albany Park Promotions & Discounts

All of the Albany Park products that have been mentioned are currently on sale. If you decide to buy from Albany Park, you should do it soon to make use of the current promotion.

There was an array of discount codes that could be used during May with some discount code providers claiming their codes offered up to 90% off. Sadly, Albany has been less generous in June. The main code is available for customers who sign up to their email list. By giving the company your email and agreeing to receive marketing materials, you will receive a code for $100 off your first order over $1,000. As part of the email list, you will also receive exclusive offers.

Contact Albany Park

You have plenty of options available if you need to contact Albany Park. If you need to contact their customer service, you can do so online by emailing [email protected] or filling in the form on the “Contact Us” section of their website. Alternatively, you can send your inquiry to their mailing address. It is 6711 Stella Link Rd., Suite 365, Houston, TX, 77005. You probably won’t need to contact the Albany Park warehouse, but if you do they also have a mailing address. It is 8411 Humble Westfield Road, Suite 110, Humble, TX, 77338.

Albany Furniture: Editors Verdict

You are unlikely to find a furniture company that can make life as easy as Albany Park. If you buy from them, your sofa will come quickly and will be easier to install than any other sofa on the market. Crucially, the ease of using Albany Park is backed up by a great product. Albany Park sofas certainly do not fall behind their competitors in the premium furniture industry.

But all the measures designed to make your life easier come at a cost. Although all Albany Park products are color customizable, they only have three base sofas on offer. While some of you probably see this as paradise as a small range makes making a decision easy, a small range means Albany Park has no options for people with a smaller budget. More importantly, the customer reviews suggest that the customer service on offer is not up to scratch.

Therefore, if you decide to go for an Albany Park sofa you will not be disappointed. But you must think long and hard before making your decision. You must decide whether an easy sofa installation experience is worth choosing a sofa that may not fit your decor or your budget.