PrintStore spotlight: Valerie's Furniture & Accents
Furniture shopping should be an entertaining experience according to Valerie Watters, owner of Valerie's Furniture & Accents. At the store's 4,100-square-foot hacienda-style showroom in Cave Creek, Arizona, customers stroll through imaginative product displays that showcase a variety of Western furnishings and accessories.
Enlarge"People walk in here and say, 'I hit the mother lode,'" Watters says. Valerie's features exceptional Western furniture, accents, and antiques, plus pieces from such top manufacturers as Old Hickory Tannery and Burton. "We're known for our custom-made products — we can provide almost everything on the floor in a different fabric, leather, or wood," Watters says. "I also try to stick to American-made items, which is tough in this day and age."
Though born and raised in Michigan, Watters has always been a cowgirl at heart. She grew up reading the novels of Louis L'Amour and Zane Grey and dreamed of "moving to Montana and marrying a cowboy." That passion for the West shaped her vision of Valerie's. After a successful opening in Scottsdale, Arizona, in 2002 she moved the store to the historic Western town of Cave Creek, where her "cowboy cool" style became a hit with locals and celebrities such as Reba McEntire and Dennis Weaver.
The store opened April Fools' Day — a legacy that Valerie celebrates every day. "We have jokes throughout the showroom — fake glue, spilled wine, or ice cream on the furniture. I've always been a prankster," she says. "Of course we do all the serious stuff and provide the service our customers deserve, but furniture buying should be fun."
• Info: 6070 E. Cave Creek Rd, Cave Creek, AZ
480-483-3327, www.valeriesfurniture.com
