City Futon & Dinette sits well with customers

After more than a decade running a bed and breakfast in Newcastle, the Armstrongs decided it was time to come to America to stay.

Debbie and Michael had visited all parts of Florida, but knew without a doubt, Naples was where they wanted to settle, so with the help of an independent business advisor, they purchased City Futon & Dinette and set about doing business in paradise.

That was in the fall of '04 and the couple considers themselves lucky to have found a business they liked in the place where they wanted to be.

Things weren't so easy at first. Ready to retire, the previous owner shared the sum total of his 50 years' experience with them in just under two weeks. "He was an old-school kind of salesman," recounts Debbie. "He believed in not letting customers out the door until they bought something." Debbie and Michael chose to do exactly the opposite and the results have been Very good. "We are really laid back," Debbie said. "We want the customer to feel at ease. They can look around as long as they want.

They can ask as many questions as the need. We'll give them as much information as we can.

"We can't go too far wrong by letting customers think they're right and keeping them happy." The biggest challenge for the new owners has always been surviving the highs and lows of seasonal changes here. While Debbie says the summer of '05 was not as slow as the previous year, she thinks the slowdown in home sales may prove an obstacle this summer. "If fewer people buy houses, there'll be fewer people buying furniture," she said.

Undeterred, Debbie is counting on the army of repeat customers the pair has acquired, to see them successfully through.

Photo by DONN BROWN, Collier Citizen

Owner of City Futon & Dinette, Debbie Armstrong, stands in her spacious showroom located at 1951 Pine Ridge Road.

"People come back again and again," she said. "They like the fact we deliver and set up and that we'll work after-hours if they can't take a delivery during the day." Futons offer an alternative to traditional furniture styles that are especially suited for rooms with limited space. What started as a simple mat used by Japanese to sleep on the floor, has evolved into a variety of styles, designs and materials to please every taste.

A futon mattress is not connected to the frame so it can be as much as 15 inches thick, unlike its sleeper-sofa counterpart. And it boasts wood slats instead of an iron bar under it.

From a chair and ottoman that make a cot-sized bed to a loveseat that converts to a full sized bed, futons are configured in a myriad of ways. With more than 3,000 fabrics from which to choose, and frames of wood, metal or rattan, customers can match just about any décor.

But that's not all. City Futons has bar stools, dinettes, platform beds and other fascinating types of furniture from which to choose.

Debbie, self-admitted brains of the operation, explained she has entire world of furniture at her fingertips and assures customers they won't be disappointed shopping in her library of catalogs.

"If we don't have just what they want, we'll help them find it," she said.