La-Z Boy Home Furnishings and Decor: family-owned and committed to service

For husband and wife team Susan and Bryan Evans, La-Z Boy Home Furnishings and Decor (Columbus Park Crossing) is all about family and service. Bryan’s parents opened the store in 2002 and hired their son as a warehouse laborer. As his parents built a reputation for customer service excellence, Bryan earned his way to delivery driving and eventually to the showroom floor, learning every facet of the business from the ground up. 

In 2013, Bryan married Susan, and she came to work with her husband in 2015. Bryan and Susan operate the business together, with Bryan focusing on the operations side and Susan on what she calls “the people side.” 

“We’re literally a mom and pop operation,” Susan said, “times two.”

Susan and Bryan represent the best in family-owned business operations. They work closely with the Columbus Ronald McDonald House and treat their employees as part of their extended family. We asked La-Z Boy associate Vangel what she likes about working with Susan and Bryan. 

“The people, the product, very family-oriented,” Vangel said. “It’s a great family that works with my family. How much time you got?”

After decades of producing innovative, top-quality furniture, people today will call just about any recliner a la-z boy–the same way we use Q-Tips for cotton swabs or Band-Aides for adhesive bandages. But not all recliners are made equally, and Vangel has a lot of reasons to love the products she helps place in customers’ homes. La-Z Boy recliners have seven features exclusive to their products, all engineered with your comfort and convenience in mind. All of the furniture at our local La-Z Boy comes out of two factories, one in Mississippi and the other in Tennessee, and the construction quality is superb. Backing up that quality is an industry-leading warranty. 

Vangel and the other expert associates connect customers with furniture and accessories in a no-pressure sales environment. Susan and her team are dedicated to helping customers in a consultative way to make selections for their home, and they are here for you every step of the way. “Our focus is on providing the best customer service before you buy, while you buy, and after you buy,” Susan said. 

The La-Z Boy team understands how important your home is, and the furniture and decorations we put into our houses so often makes those houses homes. To help customers make the most of their spaces, La-Z Boy has a full-time interior designer on staff. Using state-of-the-art 3D planning software, the interior designer is here to work with clients to meet their specific needs. From sofas to bookends, the La-Z Boy interior designer helps you bring everything together for an attractive and comfortable space. La-Z Boy also offers delivery and installation on all of their products. At La-Z Boy, customers can enjoy expert consultative customer service, hands-on help with design, and expert installation. It’s a complete concierge furniture buying experience. 

One of the many reasons we at The LocaL like to highlight locally-owned business is because we see every day how much they give back to their communities. La-Z Boy Home Furnishings & Decor proudly helps the Ronald McDonald House provide a place for families to call home so they can stay close to their hospitalized loved ones. The Columbus Ronald McDonald House currently operates ten rooms and provides food and lodging for guests. Ronald McDonald Houses are operated to feel as much like home as possible, a warm counterpoint to the institutional feel of the hospital. Guest rooms and shared living areas are cozy, and volunteers prepare meals. 

Ronald McDonald House is also a very busy place. Rooms are rarely vacant for long, and after 25 years, the original furniture in our local House was starting to wear out. So La-Z Boy jumped in. Their interior designer has redesigned every room with comfort in mind, and the business is providing furnishings for all ten existing rooms at cost. Susan and Bryan are also helping to furnish four new bedrooms, so the House can help even more families stay close. They are also helping with the dining room, one of the most-used rooms in the House. The goal is to make staying in the Ronald McDonald House feel like visiting family, and the La-Z Boy family is hard at work doing exactly that. 

You can help, too. Volunteers are always welcome, but for those with less time to offer than we’d like, there are a number of ways you can contribute to this wonderful cause. Cash donations allow the House to flexibly meet their weekly needs, and pantry items, paper products, individually packaged snacks, and frozen casseroles are always in high demand. We spoke with assistant director Tiffany Bamberger, who told us about the many different ways you can help the Ronald McDonald House. Visit rmhc.org for more information on all the different ways you can contribute, and follow our local Ronald McDonald House on Facebook (@RMHCWG), where Tiffany gives weekly updates on the most-needed items. 

By Tom Ingram