A Flourishing Concern.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXVII, Issue XXIII, 7 December 1901, Page 1088

A Flourishing Concern.

DAVENPORT A SON’S FURNISHING WAREHOUSE. “The chief difficulty in getting 1 married.” said a bachelor friend the other day. “lies not so much in procuring a wife as in the procuring of furniture.” It sounds a little ungallant. Imt no doubt it is in a degree true enough. There are, we know, many happy young couples, engaged or just about to be, who have an anxious eye on the balance in the Savings

Bank, wondering how long it will be before it grows large enough to furnish that deal- little villa, in, let ns say, Ponsonby, and thus enable Edwin to ask his Angelina to name the happy day. One thing is certain, the young folk of to-day have not anything like as long to wait as their fathers an I mothers, let alone their grandparents, did. Nothing is more surprising than the extraordinary reduction which has taken place in the price of household furniture and plenishings during the last couple of decades. Why, it is possible to furnish an entire house nowadays tastefully, comfortably and in substantial style for less than a single room would have cost twent years ago. New machinery, eompeti-

tion. inventions and science have brought prices down to an astounding extent, and have at Uie same time brought about a wonderful increase tii beauty of design. of colour and in excellence of workmanship. This fac. was very strongly impressed on the writer one day last week, when, at the invitation of a friend who is starting to furnish, he visited the establishment of \V. Davenport & Son. manufacturing and importing furnishers. in the Karangahape Road. Auckland. The firm's premises are amongst the newest and most substantial of the new brick and concrete edifices in this busy thoroughfare. and are their own property. They are situated next the new

branch office of the Rank of New’ Zealand. On entering one is at once struck at the tremendous range of linoleums and oil cloths in every style and variety of pattern. The stock is one of the largest to be seen in the city. Remarking on this fact to Mr. S. 11. Davenport, who manages ihe busi*.H..s, that gentleman admitted the soft impeachment: “We make a specialty of floor coverings,” he observed, “and, importing direct, without the mediation of any middle man, and for prompt cash we are able to offer them at figures which simply defy competition.” We looked at several with rich carpet-like designs and colourings, and certainly the prices were amazing. Nobody need have shabby or ugly floors when 2/ to 2/3 a square yard will buy a I no'eum which both looks well and lasts well, and at this price they are laid down free. We chose several, and then walked round the warehouse pricing goods and making selections, Mr. Davenport taking endless trouble to assist us. The firm make it their special business to cater for the homes of those who wish to furnish economically: and. well, they do an enormous business with the working man. and have a splendid stock o’ plain and good middle-class furniture, such as sensible people of moderate means start life with, while there are also drawing-room and dining-room suites and knick-knacks as handsome as

anyone could desire. In the upstairs showroom I was much taken with a very beautiful settee suite. in silk tapestry and green silk plush: the design was quaint and pretty, and the quality excellent. It is scarcely credible that this lovely set (shown in our picture) is only £l2. and we saw another almost as pretty but less luxuriously covert'd for £7. A comfortable cou.h, one of the enticing kind that makes one lazy to . look at. was covered in one of the most artistic cretonnes imaginable, and the price (35/6) was another surprise. A very graceful and pretty little drawing-room set. in bamboo and green plush, for £6 6/, would make any daintily papered room a delight. The show of overmantels also attracted special attention, and one to be procured at all prices. An exceedingly handsome one at £4 tempted the writer greatly, and there are many cheaper and almost as rich looking. No home is complete without a platform rocker, and when a beauty can be procured at 16/6 there is surely need for no one to be without one. Up here, too. we saw some \eiy tasteful designs in carpet squares and rugs all at extremely cheap figures, and all evidently bought in England by someone who understood the business. The bedroom furniture in New Zealand woods, made by the firm at their own factory in Richmond Road, .speaks volumes for the skill of colonial cabinet makers. The richly figured native woods are exquisitely polished, and the finish of the work is of the highest order. The firm are justly proud of the factory, which is fitted with all the latest inventions in cabinet making machinery. French and Italian bedsteads are another specialty, and are in various designs in brass and black. Some are exceedingly handsome, and the prices are most moderate.. The bedding and upholstery departments, which are at the rear of the premises, are likewise well fitted, and the loft where the bedding is stored is both warm, dry, and airy, so that all is well aired when sent out. The selection of bedroom crockery is very large, and the newest styles are remarkably beautiful, both in colouring and design. One in blue, in an art shape, specially called for admiration. Space will not permit further description, but it may be said in brief that a house may here l.e furnished from the front door to the bark in thoroughly good style at an extremely modest outlay. Davenport and Son are a practical firm, knowing their business right down to the ground, and unhampered by lack of capital or interest on overdrafts, consequently they are able to offer special advantages to purchasers, a fact which a visit to Fa ang .- hape Road w ill quickly demon<rr.* *».