Roby’s Furniture & Appliance opens in Astoria

Published 4:00 pm Sunday, January 31, 2010

Roby’s Furniture & Appliance opened Jan. 7 in downtown Astoria. The furniture, appliance and electronics chain is based in Tillamook.

The Astoria store is located on Commercial Street, in the space formerly occupied by long-time retailer Hunts Home Furnishings, which closed in 2009.

Astoria Roby’s Manager Craig Harmel will be a familiar face to Roby’s customers – that’s because he worked for Hunts for 25 years.

“There’s a lot of commonality between Roby’s and Hunts,” he said. “We belong to two of the same national buying groups that Hunts belonged to. There are a lot of similarities between the product lines, but Roby’s has a lot more resources.”

Roby’s also handled the liquidation sale of Hunts inventory prior to opening the Astoria store.

Harmel said Roby’s sells furniture, appliances and electronics. The store carries national furniture brands like Lazy Boy and Lane. Major appliance brands include Whirlpool, Maytag, and GE, along with high-end lines like Thermador, Wolf and Sub-Zero. The store also carries an extensive inventory of mattresses.

“One of the lines I’m particularly excited about is Ekornes,” he said. “It’s an imported Norwegian line, contemporary leather Scandinavian furniture.”

George and Cindy Lewis own Roby’s Furniture & Appliance. The company operates five stores total – Astoria is their newest location. Other stores are in Lincoln City, Florence, and Newport.

Harmel praised the Lewises for their hometown approach to retail. He’s known the family for about 16 years, during the time he worked for Hunts as a sales person and buyer.

“The company is a family business. Their son and daughter and nephew are all in management,” he said. “They really understand how to operate a small business in a small town – definitely a friendly attitude.”

Harmel said Astoria residents have told him they’re relieved to see Roby’s open.

“The response has been really good,” he said.