Best Buy now sells patio furniture. Really. Showrooms are coming to Charlotte and Raleigh.

Catherine Muccigrosso
·3 min read

Best Buy has chosen Charlotte and Raleigh as among 11 cities where it will debut another new store offering — patio furniture. That’s right, the consumer electronics giant is now selling outdoor dining sets and lounge seating, fire tables and accessories like umbrellas under its Yardbird label.

A Yardbird showroom is expected to open next week at 4425 Sharon Road in Charlotte. An exact date is not yet available, company officials said Tuesday.

The Raleigh showroom will open in early summer at 4601 Creedmoor Road.

“We’ve been on a journey to help customers elevate overall living space,” Blake Hampton, senior vice president at Best Buy, told The Charlotte Observer in a recent, exclusive interview.

In 2021, during the pandemic as people were focused on their homes and expanding living space, Best Buy added outdoors items like grills. The same year, Best Buy purchased Yardbird for $85 million, Twin Cities Business reported. Both Best Buy and Yardbird are based in Minnesota.

Yardbird in South Park will be a standalone location less than 10 miles from several Best Buy stores.

The Charlotte experience store at 10221 Perimeter Parkway also will have some Yardbird furniture in store, according to Best Buy. That store offers demonstration areas where customers can use the latest technology and see other products.

Yardbird is doubling its showrooms across the country opening 11 locations by the end of June.
Yardbird is doubling its showrooms across the country opening 11 locations by the end of June.

What to expect at Yardbird

Yardbird’s South Park showroom covers about 5,000 square feet, according to Best Buy.

The space allows customer’s to work with an in-house designer to physically shape out the patio furniture to see how it will work in their home, Hampton said.

“Those types of experiences would be hard to do within a Best Buy store,” Hampton said.

Some of the furniture is made using recycled plastics, and Yardbird focuses on reducing packaging materials and using long-lasting materials such as rust-proof aluminum and fabrics that are stain and water-resistant, Hampton said.

The cost per item, which varies by collection, ranges from less than $500 for an Adirondack chair to over $2,000 for a complete dining or lounge set.

Best Buy electronics retailer purchased Yardbird outdoor furniture company in 2021 during the pandemic.
Best Buy electronics retailer purchased Yardbird outdoor furniture company in 2021 during the pandemic.

Best Buy likes testing in Charlotte area

Charlotte was chosen for a Yardbird showroom because of its long patio season, Hampton said. Plus, it’s part of Best Buy’s strategy to pilot store models in the Charlotte area.

Last year, Best Buy debuted its smaller, digital-first store at Monroe Crossing Mall, 2115 W. Roosevelt Blvd. The format encourages customers to shop and check out digitally while in the store.

In 2021, Best Buy’s first outlet, first auto installation garage and first “experiential” hub debuted in Charlotte. The company also added more warehouse space for online orders and expanding tech repair and support.

The experience hub at Charlotte-North Lake allows customers to learn more about each product brand.

And the Pineville store was Best Buy’s first outlet store and its first “Autotech Megahub,” including a garage for speaker, radio and remote start system installations by certified autotech experts.

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