Since 2007 Country Willow has been voted “Best Furniture Store” by Westchester Magazine. After meeting Roy Estrow, co-founder with his wife Cori, you can see why.
By Shawn Callaghan-Diaz
Since 2007 Country Willow has been voted “Best Furniture Store” by Westchester Magazine. After meeting Roy Estrow, co-founder with his wife Cori, you can see why.
By his own admission, Roy Estrow is a self-taught home furnishings entrepreneur. He started out as an advertising executive, which helps explain his keen eye for detail and his ability to tap into what the market wants and needs.
What’s refreshing about Roy is that he so evidently loves what he does and has an unquestionable thirst to discover new things.
When you walk in the door, at 230 Route 117, By Pass Road, in Bedford Hills, you are greeted by a vast collection of furniture suited for the sophisticated but comfortable Westchester lifestyle. It’s no easy task to stage separate spaces in this 18,000 square-foot showroom, but Roy, a student at heart, did his homework.
He visited numerous furniture showrooms, noted what did and didn’t work for him, and then seized on the idea of creating
freestanding movable partitions of reclaimed timbers.
He painted the partitions in a variety of colors, differently designed of wainscoting and plain wall paneling. Remarkably, the 100 or so vignettes don’t overwhelm you. The experience is more like sitting at your table with your favorite home magazine and flipping through the pages with a cup of coffee or a glass of wine.
The salespeople are knowledgeable and not high-pressured. Roy made a point of saying they are not paid by commission, but are there to give you the best help and advice they can. They will help with floor plans, drapery fabrication, lighting, and floor coverings. Trade discounts are also available to those that are already working with a decorator.
County Willow employs 24 people who are like family to the Estrows. Many of the custom-made pieces are named after staff and family members. The “Holly Media Center” is one of Roy’s first designs, and remains one of their most popular units. It’s named after his daughter.
I’ve had the pleasure of bringing clients to Country Willow and working with Kim Lewis, who’s recently been put in charge of all merchandising in the showroom and shares buying responsibility with Roy.
The biggest sellers are media cabinets and dining tables. They are mostly made in America, painted in non-toxic finishes, using soy or down foam in the upholstery. No custom design is too complicated or simple for them to make. One of the benefits of their experience is that they have thought through the knotty problems, like cable management in media cabinets, nightstands or kitchen islands.
Country Willow has recently expanded the Willow Kids showroom with the addition of “Willow Baby” furniture — each area is staged with lighting, art, and linens from Pine Cone Hill or Bella Notte. They have everything you need and want to see when you are eight months pregnant and can’t walk another step. Their selection for boys and girls is darling.
The lead time for furniture not in stock is eight to ten weeks, but Country Willow has so much great inventory that you’re likely to find just what you want and have it in-house in time for that big occasion, whatever that occasion may be.
