The first brick-and-mortar store for Society Social in Charlotte, N.C., features a 20-foot blue pagoda to showcase the brand’s many upholstery and color options.
Roxy Te
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Digitally native furniture company Society Social has opened its first brick-and-mortar store in the Atherton Mall in Charlotte’s trendy South End neighborhood.
Founder Roxy Te worked with designer Sasha Bikoff, known for her theatrical and brightly colored spaces, to bring the brands colorful aesthetic to life with painted floors, large gingham, custom millwork, neon and a 20-foot blue pagoda.
Te started the brand in her New York apartment back in 2011. Her family had been in the business making furniture from their factory in the Philippines.
“My family earned a name doing rattan with dinettes and tables in the Philippines in the 1980s but then moved to North Carolina and opened a factory there,” Te said. “After graduating from the Parsons School of Design, I wanted to try selling sofas online with awesome designer details, such as customizable skirts, piping and tassles at friendly and accessible prices. At the time, people didn’t have a lot of faith in e-commerce furniture sales.”
Te said she pre-dated the big direct-to-consumer movement but wanted to see if e-commerce furniture sales at affordable prices would work.
“Bar carts were just starting to rise in popularity due to the TV show Mad Men, and so we made bar carts in my parent’s factory that were more affordable and offered them online,” she added. “The sales started slowly, and then we would have an order every couple of minutes.”
After the bar cart debut, the online-only brand quickly built a following through word of mouth and Instagram. Over time, Te diversified by adding a sofa, dining chair and a table or two. The sofas — from the upholstery down to the frames — are made in the family factory in North Carolina. She said the name of the business, Society Social, came from the popularity of the bar carts and the desire to entertain.
“It’s not about perfectly matching but about creating a place to share with family and friends,” Te said.
The brand previously had a showroom in New York’s Soho neighborhood, but after doing extensive research, Te said Charlotte looked like the best place to open the first brick-and-mortar location. In addition to bar carts, case goods and upholstery, the new store offers curated gifts and décor.
“Our goal is to make visiting the store an experience by bringing our colorful and imaginative brand elements to life,” she added.
