Junkfood

There is strong competition among furniture stores in my area. The stores in Nashua all serve free food of some sort.

Jordan's Furniture serves free soda, coffee, hot chocolate, pellet ice cream, and freshly-baked cookies. They also used to have goldfish crackers and pretzels, but I'm not sure whether they still do. The pellet ice cream served is Dippin' Dots. (The two major brands of pellet ice cream are Dippin' Dots which has a 10% butterfat content and Mini Melts which has 14% butterfat.) They serve you from a counter in the front of the store. There are also free balloons for kids. The sales staff appear to work on some sort of shared-commission system, so they aren't aggressive.

Bob's Discount Furniture serves free lemonade, iced tea, coffee, popcorn, freshly-baked cookies, ice cream, and an assortment of penny candy. They serve you from a counter in the back of the store. Sugar-free penny candy is also available from behind the counter. Bob's also has a small video arcade with a Golden Tee machine, among others. The sales staff appear to take turns assigning themselves to people who walk through the door. My salesperson sort of followed me around the store, hoping to secure a sale.

Bernie & Phyl's serves free coffee, cookies, and lemonade. They have a good selection of kooky furniture, like chairs shaped like hands. The sales staff appear to work on some sort of shared-commission system, so they aren't aggressive. In fact, nobody spoke to me when I was touring the store (which was fine by me).

Furniture World serves just bottled water and coffee. However, the coffee served is Green Mountain coffee, brewed in individual Keurig K-Cups. The system is pretty neat. Inside the sealed K-Cup is coffee in a cone filter. In the machine, pressurized hot water is injected through the top of the cup and through the coffee and filter. The coffee comes out of the bottom of the cup. (http://www.keurig.com/AW/magic.html) The sales staff hang out watching the front door and take turns assigning themselves to people who walk through the door. However, they did not follow me around the store.