Contemporary Furniture Stores

To many people in Arkansas, leaving something on the side of the road apparently means you don’t want it anymore.

Matt Noonan discovered that when he opened IQ in December and set up a furniture display a few feet from Fayetteville’s busy College Avenue to catch the attention of people driving by.

On three separate occasions, he had to dash out of the store to stop someone from taking a $400 red James rocker, which was part of the display.

The fourth time, they got away with it.

But it was a small setback. The display appears to be working. Noonan said his sales have jumped considerably this summer to about $50,000 per month.

Noonan moved from Tulsa to open the Fayetteville store. He owns 30 percent of the business, and his two partners — Joe Harp and John Igo, both of Tulsa — each own 35 percent. Harp and Igo also own two IQ stores in Tulsa. They started the company in 2002.

Noonan said sales at the Fayetteville store have equaled those of each Tulsa store over the past three months. With much of their business coming from Northwest Arkansas, the three partners began scouting a year ago for a location here.

Flashback Furniture

Noonan describes IQ as “a contemporary furniture store with flashbacks to the ’50s and ’60s with modern and retro themes.”

The company’s slogan is “smart furniture for sophisticated people.”

“We normally say sexy people,” Noonan whispered, “but sophisticated fits the older crowd better.”

Noonan also describes IQ’s furniture as affordable.

“I can design a five-piece living-room set for under $2,000 and make it look good,” he said. That includes a sofa, chair, rug, lamp and entertainment center.

“The main concept of our store is high-design at reasonable prices,” Noonan said.

IQ has about 20 different furniture suppliers from a wide variety of places: Canada, Italy, Scandinavia, Brazil, New York, Los Angeles and North Carolina.

IQ currently occupies 3,500 SF of space in Fayetteville’s Scott Plaza. Noonan said he plans to expand the store soon to take over an adjacent 2,500 SF.

Noonan said he has delivered furniture, for a price, as far as Little Rock and Springfield, Mo.

Lacuna Design

A couple of miles from IQ, on Joyce Boulevard near Crossover Road, another contemporary furniture store also opened in December.

Jesse Smyers said he worked in a local furniture store for seven years before deciding to open his own business. He said he felt the area was ready for an upscale design-oriented furniture store and he wanted to be the first person to open one.

“I figured I’d better do it or somebody else was going to,” he said.

Smyers described Lacuna’s furniture as “the best in modern design.”

He came up with the name Lacuna by thumbing through a dictionary. The word, which is Latin and akin to “lagoon,” means “an empty space.”

Smyers’ mission is to fill that empty space with furniture from Lacuna.

Prices are a bit more upscale at Lacuna, where an Arco lamp goes for $3,000 and a Rossetto platform bed from Italy sells for a similar price.

Smyers said he has about 50 different suppliers. His 3,000-SF store is basically a showroom. Most items are special order, although he will “sell off the floor.”

Smyers said he delivers furniture as far away as Fort Smith.