This place is something of a mixed bag, both literally and figuratively, but is certainly worth checking out. You often find some of the most remarkable stuff here, sometimes at startlingly low prices, even though everything is brand new. Shopping here is kind of fun, in much the same way as perusing a thrift store, but without having to wade through trashy people or pick through second hand merchandise.
As others have noted, what you see is what you get in terms of the name, because this is indeed a store full of goods for furnishing your home. Aside from the usual stuff (lighting, decor, rugs, bedding, kitchen and bath, etc.) they also have fairly decent selections of pet stuff and some pieces of furniture, along with seasonal offerings (Christmas, Halloween and the like).
The best thing about this place though, in my humble opinion, is that you can often find diamonds in the rough. Just in the last few days, my wife and I stumbled across an entire cache of Georg Jensen branded Christmas ornaments, decorations and candle holders. Georg Jensen is Danish designer brand, and the ornaments were all made in Denmark and brand new. These are some of the most expensive decorations you can buy in Denmark, and the prices are usually sky high. Everything we found was at least 80% below retail price, brand new and in the original boxes. We ended up getting over $750 worth of Georg Jensen for a modest $145, out the door. And to be clear, I'm not talking "compare to" pricing provided by the store (which was more modest, surprisingly), but actual prices from Danish department store websites (e.g. Imerco). One gift set in particular retails for $225 and Homegoods had it marked down to $40 for clearance.
On another trip, we happened upon some Scanpan branded cookware. This is another higher end brand, also made in Denmark, so another one of those gems I mentioned. We found both an 11" griddle pan and an 8" covered pot. From their own Scanpan website, retail on these was something like $135 just for the 8" pot, but Homegoods had it for $35. I believe the 11" griddle was also over $100, but only $40 at Homegoods. You can't do much better than that.
If that wasn't enough, we also came across some Stelton (another Danish designer brand) decorations from their "Tangle" collection. A glass vase with copper-coated, stainless steel base, along with the matching decorative tray / bowl. Retail on these two pieces is north of $245, but they were $30 a piece (again, brand new like everything else in the store).
More pertinent to the holidays, we found this location had a good selection of Asas Tomtebod branded Christmas gnomes. These are hand-made in Sweden and are quite popular holiday decorations throughout Scandinavia, but uncommon and typically extremely expensive stateside. We purchased a handful of these, from small to large, all less than half of retail price. Our best find was a very large, 35-inch tall "Olga" gnome, which we bought the day after Christmas for only $65 (half off on holiday stuff). Prior to that, it was only marked at $130, but nobody bought it even at that price, which was astonishing given that they retail for over $200.
Last but not least, I was also able to snag some really nice steak knives from Laguiole, which are French made and ridiculously high quality. Two sets of six, each with their own beech wood storage block, retailing around $50, but Homegoods had them for $14 a piece! Also grabbed a matching Laguiole waiter's corkscrew. Those retail around $100, but it was only $24 here. As my old man says, that kind of deal is almost hard to take.
Yes, the store is sometimes cluttered, and yes, more often than not, the organization is questionable. Is it Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome? Not quite, but sometimes (especially with the holiday stuff) it comes close. Nevertheless, the types of deals you're able to get with a good eye make it more than worth it to stroll through now and then, even if you're not looking for anything in particular. If you're in the area, I highly recommend it. You're almost certain to find something interesting, and most of the people working there are pretty friendly too. read more
