RETAIL TOUCH POINTS: Design Firm Vesta Aims to ‘Dominate’ Furniture Rental with Acquisition of Fernish and Feather
Luxury interior design and staging firm Vesta has acquired not one, but two of the furniture industry’s hottest new startups — Fernish and Feather, both of which offer furniture rental services.
The three companies will operate as separate brands under the newly created parent company Showroom, with the aim of “merging the worlds of luxury design and accessible, sustainable furniture solutions.” Showroom will serve customers across New York, Southern California, South Florida, the Bay Area and Seattle, with national ecommerce coverage.
Founded in 2017, Vesta initially made its name through its home staging business, which was showcased on hit TV shows like Netflix’s Selling Sunset and Bravo’s Million Dollar Listing. The company then launched an interior design studio in 2020 and an ecommerce platform in 2021, and now designs upwards of 3,000 homes every year. “Vesta has established itself as a driving force in the broader furnishing and design industry, and with this most recent move, is poised to dominate the rental market,” said the company in a statement.
Fernish and Feather, both also founded in 2017, have swiftly risen to become household names in the world of consumer and commercial furniture rental. Retail TouchPoints spoke to Fernish COO Kristin Smith, who has now been named President and COO at Showroom, about Fernish’s philosophy and growth strategy in 2021 — you can check out the recording here.
The new Showroom umbrella organization will be led by Vesta Founder and CEO Julian Buckner, who said in a statement: “Leveraging our shared software platform, logistics and proprietary distribution, Fernish and Feather are the next spokes in our flywheel of services. We are fortunate to be a profitable and growing business in an industry rocked by several high-profile failures in recent months [including companies like Z Gallerie and Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams]. We are looking forward to executing on our strategy, which includes continuing to acquire complementary businesses across the design, rental, staging and related software verticals.”
“The furniture rental landscape is rapidly evolving, and scale has become critical to meeting consumer demand and expectations,” added Michael Barlow, Founder of Fernish in a statement. “Partnering with Vesta is a strategic move that combines our strengths and significantly enhances our market reach.”
“Sustainability has always been the core of what we do at Feather. In Vesta, we’ve found a partner that shares our commitment,” said Jay Reno, Founder of Feather in a statement. “This move is more than a merger; it’s two like-minded companies joining forces to push the furniture industry in a more responsible direction.”