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To say that the Sara Sells monthly furniture sales around the South draw a crowd would be an understatement — some folks plan their whole season around these events! The sales are free to attend and not to be missed, as you can find a wide variety of unique home furnishings and decor at a seriously discounted price. We sat down with founder Sara Young to learn about her inspiration, design philosophy, and what’s next for Sara Sells!
The idea for Sara Sells came about in 2015 when Sara discovered a retailer selling heavily discounted Amazon returns and overstock items. From there, Sara began buying similar pieces, flipping them, and selling them on local trade groups like Facebook Marketplace. When she created her own group to market these items, it didn’t take long before her following grew to nearly 3,000!
“Like most of us, we’d rather get a deal on something higher-end than pay full price for something cheaply made, and that’s what I wanted to offer people,” says Sara of the inspiration behind her business. “I quickly realized there was a gap in the market for quality pieces at a reasonable price.”
Sara Young founded Sara Sells as a way to sell high-quality furniture at a highly discounted price.
Today, Sara Sells has locations in Nashville, Memphis, and Birmingham and hosts in-person and online sales monthly.
After the first couple of years working out of her garage, Sara found a warehouse in College Grove, TN, where the vision of an in-person sale started to take shape. “Opening up to the public once a month allowed us more time to source special pieces while keeping operating costs as low as possible,” explains Sara. “We weren’t sure how many people would come to that first sale. We were taking a leap and hoping the community we’d built would follow us on this next journey.”
It turned out that 300 of Sara’s followers showed up at the inaugural sale, and the same spirit that inspired the first in-person event has driven Sara Sells ever since. “Initially, we weren’t able to buy the higher-end pieces, so we started with the closeouts,” adds Sara. “We put in the work, kept our overhead low, and operated debt-free. Now we buy pieces just hitting the market and offer those at a fraction of traditional retail prices.” What once was a single 6,000-square-foot warehouse with headboards leaning against walls, rugs displayed on the floor, and overflow items in a hallway is now three 30,000-square-foot spaces in Nashville, Memphis, and most recently, Birmingham.
Bring a chair and plan to arrive at the sale early to save your spot in line!
When you visit a Sara Sells event, you can expect to find a well-curated and thoughtfully displayed selection of both new-to-market and staple pieces that fit into almost any home’s aesthetic. Once you’ve found your perfect piece, you can take the item home with you that day. “We are a fun shopping experience, and people feel that!” adds Sara. “We essentially have no lead time — you can take your pieces home on the day of the sale. That in itself is a commodity these days. You get a better product, better price, and can leave the sale with your pieces — that is a win for everyone!”
The Sara Sells team also attends three to five furniture markets a year to meet with suppliers and source new products. In addition to carrying third-party brands, Sara also designs and manufactures her own pieces. This ensures the warehouses remain stocked and items meet Sara Sells’ quality standards.
“The beginning was full of trial and error and traveling,” explains Sara. “Closeout deals and overstock items were what we could afford, and we traveled to different states in my husband’s pickup truck to find deals on furniture to bring back to Nashville. Our team is like a family, and many of them have been with us since the early days.”
“We buy in volume, keep overhead low, and keep our markup low,” says Sara of how she can sell furniture at a discounted price. “We also design and manufacture many of our own pieces, which allows us to provide better pricing and ensure quality remains high.”
Design isn’t the only focus of Sara Sells, however. They have a give-back initiative that serves as one of the company’s core values, which assists nonprofit organizations like Narrow Gate, Mercy Multiplied, Memphis Dream Center, and Church of the Highlands. “We believe that a big part of our purpose is to give back to our local communities and those in need,” explains Sara of this initiative. “We’ve built these relationships through personal connections with people in the nonprofits. Some of these men and women even work on sale days with our team!”
“Our pieces are not cheap for cheap … we offer quality for less,” explains Sara. “Furniture is still a category people want to see and feel in person, which is why we will always offer in-person opportunities and online options.”
When it comes to the future of Sara Sells, Sara says she hopes to become the furniture destination of the Southeast and beyond. “Our vision is to grow! We hope to open more locations, offer more opportunities for our current customers, and provide solutions for those outside our radius,” she adds. We can’t wait to see this vision come to life!
To learn more about Sara Sells and upcoming events, visit sarasells.com.
This article is sponsored by Sara Sells. All photography by Olivia Reeves of Two and Yonder.
