Some of the best furniture stores in Columbia, SC and the surrounding Midlands region include Chapin Furniture, Dan Rich Furniture, Marty Rae’s, Strobler Home Furnishings, Ashley, Haverty’s, Rooms To Go, Ethan Allen, and La-Z-Boy. Each store offers a different shopping experience, from locally owned showrooms with decades of community roots to nationally recognized brands with broad selections and design services. Whether you’re furnishing your first home or refreshing a room you’ve lived in for years, understanding what each store brings to the table can help you shop with confidence.

As a local and family-owned authorized La-Z-Boy dealer that has served the Midlands since 1976, we believe informed customers make the best buying decisions. That’s why we’ve put together this guide to some of the furniture stores in the Columbia and Lexington area, so you can get a feel for what’s out there before you start shopping.

If you’re trying to decide between these two brands, here are seven key differences that can help guide your choice between La-Z-Boy and Ashley Furniture:

• Cost: Ashley typically has lower upfront prices while La-Z-Boy’s pricing reflects made-to-order manufacturing and extensive customization options
• Quality and Customer Satisfaction: La-Z-Boy tends to have slightly better overall satisfaction ratings with quality testing at twice the industry standard
• Interior Design Services: La-Z-Boy provides complimentary access to degreed interior designers in-store while Ashley offers free virtual design services online
• Customization: La-Z-Boy offers hundreds of fabric options, wood finishes, leather types, trim details, and exclusive features like custom handles while Ashley provides more limited variations
• Delivery: Both charge fees, but La-Z-Boy includes full-service delivery with unpackaging, assembly, and pre-delivery quality inspection
• Warranties: La-Z-Boy provides limited lifetime warranties on frames, springs, and mechanisms compared to Ashley’s typical 1-5 year coverage
• Manufacturing: La-Z-Boy produces furniture primarily in North American facilities across Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Mexico while Ashley manufactures in the USA and internationally in locations like Vietnam and China