Furniture Subscription Startup Fernish Launches Collaboration With Crate & Barrel

On July 15^th, furniture subscription startup Fernish officially launched their collaboration with Crate & Barrel. This is the first time any Crate & Barrel product has been available for rent. The partnership also launches the company, which is less than two years old, to a new level. 

Founded in 2017 by Michael Barlow and Lucas Dickey, Fernish is backed by start-up accelerator Techstars as well as various angel investors from the worlds of real estate, collaborative logistics, and supply chain management. Fernish also counts the former CEO of one of the world’s largest furniture rental companies as both an investor and advisor.

Furniture rental isn’t a new concept. In fact, it’s a rather stale one. Most people associate furniture rental with home staging, motel-like corporate apartments or as an alternative for people with limited financial resources. Fernish seeks to redefine the way the market sees furniture rental by positioning itself as a lifestyle brand. They are also trying to fill a need that many consumers don’t even realize they have. 

“Moving isn’t stressful.” – Said No One Ever 

Whether you hire professionals or do it yourself, moving is never hassle-free. Transporting large, cumbersome pieces, or disassembling and assembling furniture while trying to understand hieroglyphic-like directions is exhausting and frustrating. Fernish sees subscribing as a solution to this problem.

As an investment banker for J.P. Morgan in Manhattan, co-founder Michael Barlow moved five times in six years with three different roommates. Moving day was always chaotic. There would be arguments over who owned the sofa. In one instance, his roommate literally cut a daybed in half, although he claims it was more of a symbolic gesture. Dickey had similar experiences, moving ten times in thirteen years. During this period, neither one of them invested in furniture they planned to keep for the long term, although they could well afford to.

A More Sustainable Option

An EPA statistic shows 9.8 million tons of furniture ends up in landfills. In recent years, consumer brands have been trying to change their policies and models to become more sustainable. A recent example of this is Starbucks changing their lids to eliminate plastic straws. Sustainability is already built into Fernish’s model. In addition to Crate & Barrel, the company works exclusively with quality suppliers including EQ3, Floyd, and Campaign—whose products can withstand wear and tear as well as look fresh from home to home.

Rent Furniture, But Own Flexibility

Flexibility is a key element of Fernish’s model. They have a fully transparent “rent to own” program that allows subscribers to apply their previous payments towards the cost of the piece or pieces they want to buy at the end of their subscription.

Fernish also allows users to subscribe to an entire room or specific pieces. They can even swap out things they don’t like or simply want to change up at any point.

Roommates can even split payments, avoiding at least one awkward confrontation every month.

Crate & Barrel Collaboration

This partnership marks the beginning of a new era for the mega furniture retailer, which has always distributed their own products exclusively. “We’re excited to work with Fernish to bring consumers Crate & Barrel and CB2 products in a unique way that best fits their lifestyle and needs,” explained Michael Chaney, Director of Business Sales at Crate & Barrel.

The Goods

Fernish is launching with fifty different pieces to meet all furniture needs and lots of wants. In addition to standard items such as sofas and bed frames, on-trend accessories including bar carts and necessities like lamps are also available.

Five curated collections from CB2 are also part of the launch. In line with Fernish’s branding, each is named after a notable street in Los Angeles—La Brea, Larchmont, Barrington, Bundy, and Mulholland. The collections cover every room with various bedroom, living room, and dining room options. Fernish plans roll out more items as well as curated collections in the very near future.