Don't know? I only buy solid wood furniure and have never looked to buy furniture in supermarkets?

No, not necessarily. I cannot visualize right at this moment whether or not Wal-Mart has furniture. I recall that they have housewares, but smaller items such as small appliances, linen, crockery, cutlery, glasses. They also have clothes, inexpensive jewellery, watches, cosmetics, toys, and some gardening equipment.

But let's say for argument that Wal-Mart did sell furniture. I'm thinking of other low-budget places that do sell furniture. It's not necessarily true that those stores only sell flat-packed furniture. They sell some flat-packed furniture and some fully assembled furniture.

The difference will be that the low-budget places will sell veneer and melamime. Veneer comes in different qualities. Some of it is a layer of real wood over particleboard. Not all of it is a piece of wood-looking synthetic stuff over particleboard.

The better qaulity veneer can be more practical in some parts of Canada than solid wood. Alberta, for example, has a dry climate, and solid wood furniture sometimes cracks. I've had a piece of solid wood furniture crack in Calgary, and Linda P has stated that one (or more?) pieces of her good quality furniture that she brought from the UK cracked in Edmonton.

My experience of Ontario is that it is quite humid (although I've only visited there and have never lived there year-round), so I don't imagine you'd have the problem of solid wood cracking in Ontario.

But going back to the question of whether or not furniture is flat-packed. IKEA is the company that has built itself around flat-packed furniture. Other companies have not done so to anything like that extent. Yes, you will find flat-packed furniture here or there, but it's by no means universal, even in the lower price ranges.

And, yes, you often will find that snythetic film that looks like wood over particleboard in the really cheap furniture stores.
x

Yup Wal-Mart has furniture.

http://www.walmart.ca/wps-portal/sto...epartmentId=32

Thats good to know! Wow, even if you buy expensive veneer here it still comes flat packed!!!

Thanks again Judy, you are always so helpful and friendly! Not blunt at all like some people are. I tried to leave you more karma but it won't let me. Have to spread the love first apparently

Walmarts furniture is fit for guy Fawks maybe

I find the website a bit rubbish. Surely they have more to offer in store?

Oh! Maybe I will avoid that on then! Thanks for the tip!!

i guess it is a matter of language: as a professional wood worker i know (or at least i'm supposed to know ) what i'm talking about. whereas a the advertising / marketing of a furniture store doesn't always make a huge difference between terms. and sometimes i can't help being picky...

veneer is the term for a thin layer of real wood. it is glued to a core material like particle board (what you referred to as chipboard), mdf (medium density fibre - wood dust pressed into a panel so to speak, nevertheless a good material if you use it the right way) or different kinds of plywood (which is essentially made from several thin layers of wood). veneered panels are mostly used together with real wood edges which can be shaped to custom profiles. the whole thing has to be protected by laqueer or other finishing products. in its nature there are a lot of more steps involved in veneering, which makes a quality product way more expensive than say melamine.

melamine is an artificial film which can imitate whatever you like, wood or stone or just one single color. it covers a sheet of core material, most of it is particle board, a variation of that would be postform-melamine which will cover preshaped doors (for kitchen cabinets and the like) without joints in the front.



so, definitely stepping down from my soap box.

Thanks for the clarification, lof.
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To expand on lof's posts I would say that veneer on a suitable (MDF or plywood) core is superior to solid wood for many applications.

A veneered panel with a No.1 edge (i.e. the panel is edged in wood before the veneer is applied) is visually the same as solid wood. However, it is structurally much more stable. Whereas solid wood will warp if it exposed to moisture and shrink and crack in a dry climate a veneered panel will remain as it was produced in any normal household environment.

As for higher end furniture stores the OP could try Sears Home stores or Ethan Allen. Interior Designers often know of high quality custom furniture makers who do not sell directly to the public.

You might also like Mobilia.

mobilia.ca

Some furniture that is billed as solid wood, maybe solid wood, but not what you expect, ie a solid plank of one type of wood. It may be ply or another wood with a veneer on top

We bought some of my dads furniture over. Some is solid oak, mahogany and in one case, pine. The dresser is oak veneer on oak ply, and the library table is veneer with marquetry etc. It has all suffered in the Ontario winter, and dried out. Especially the marquetry. We now use humidifiers and the pieces are much better, though still shrinking a little in the winter.

For anyone in the Calgary area, check out this store, near the Ikea sprawl.

Also another to check out when you land is liquadation centre's in the area.

They do sell stuff off cheaper than the bigger companys and sometimes you can get a bargain.

Sadly they dont have websites as there turnover is quiet quick.

You appear to have missed the meaning of the winking smiley.