Buying comfortable furniture in Lakeside

I am very excited I am finally taking the leap and moving to Lakeside this June! I've been following this site for some time and posted back some time about whether I could live on a small income there. Fortunately I'm able to move down sooner than planned and thru posting through this great forum, I met someone who is moving there at the same time that I am planning to and they are kind enough to share a ride drive there giving me some ample space to bring my housewares in their trailer but the best thing is they welcomed my dog. Not only all this but they offered renting their casita to me! I'm feeling very blessed to meet this incredibly wonderful family moving there from Oregon like me!  I don't plan to bring any furniture, maybe a wicker chair and another small chair if there is room but really plan to sell all my furniture and buy new once there.  Soooo my questions are?

Where does one go to buy a good American style comfortable couch in Lakeside, like a couch with two Lazy boy pull outs at each end for example? And what would something like that go for there?
What are the prices for a nice small sectional with a chaise lounge as part of it? 
How much and where does one go at Lakeside to buy a new bed, are there tempurpedic beds there to purchase new? What is the cost if so? 
 
I see there are plenty of thrift shops selling beautiful accent pieces and tables, but most of the furniture I see in the furnished rentals for the living rooms looks very uncomfortable to me. So I plan to eventually purchase new furnishings for my own personal comfort. 

I appreciate any feedback anyone has to offer, and thank you all ahead! So much to do to get ready for this new exciting adventure, which I can hardly believe is happening! I will be so happy once we are there in Ajijic! Until then I'll be bitting my nails once we cross the border!  Praying hard and strong that we arrive safe n sound all in tow safely and soundly!

There is a furniture store beside Sunrise restaurant in San Antonio that sells Lazy Boy and Palliser products. It isn't cheap though. We bought a leather loveseat that has two recliners and a matching reclining chair and ottoman for about $2800 USD. They also sell high end mattresses and such but again it isn't cheap.

Quality furniture is definitely NOT inexpensive here. If you can be patient, once you're down here, your best bet is to look for things that people are selling because they have to move back north.

Otherwise, it just depends on your budget.

There are a couple of charity-run stores on the main road going from Chapala on through, as well as a number of good garage sales on a regular basis as well as some commercially run used furniture stores. Barbara's Bazaar in Ajijic on 16 de Septiembre has some very gently used furnishings, too. All worth checking out before plunking down money for new furnishings.
You'll probably need to buy a good mattress from one of the new furnishings stores.
Good luck on your journey, and welcome.

The furniture manufacturing industry for Jalisco is centered in the town of Ocotlan which is nearby - assuming your are OK with Mexican made furniture and styles. Prices are reported to be much better than going into the large furniture outlets in Guadalajara. There are several showrooms along the highway (35) between Poncitlan and Ocotlan. These are towns on the La Barca highway about 15-20 km. east of the Chapala-Guadalajara Hwy.

Thanks everyone for all the fast responses about buying new or good quality used furniture that is comfortable, it's definitely still much cheaper than paying a moving company to haul what I own now. I figure with the sale of all my furniture and selling my car will afford me the opportunity to buy new stuff there.  I will definitely invest in a brand new mattress cause I will just feel better about sleeping on new bedding.

Liverpool in Guadalajara.

CanuckBob wrote:There is a furniture store beside Sunrise restaurant in San Antonio that sells Lazy Boy and Palliser products. It isn't cheap though. We bought a leather loveseat that has two recliners and a matching reclining chair and ottoman for about $2800 USD. They also sell high end mattresses and such but again it isn't cheap.

Furniture for less. We bought Palliser and are happy. Yep not cheap but comfort that's worth a fortune for TV or Reading time. We pick up used recliners/ over stuffed chairs one at a time over time. Expect to pay a fair price for used zero clearance lazy boys for example. Palliser while Canadian design has a factory here in Mexico.

Z

Are there any websites to the stores that sell the comfortable seating as mentioned? I would love to browse their furniture online if possible. I assume the stores mentioned in this thread don't have their products listed online to review but thought I would ask anyway. Thx everyone!

A lot of Mexican furniture is uncomfortable except for upholstered furniture but it is expensive. Shortly after I moved here I bought a recliner and have been happy ever since. After looking at $600US recliners I finally found one of good quality both in construction and fabric for $350US, but it took a LOT of looking. No matter where I move and the condition of the furniture, I have my recliner.

You can have mattresses cleaned just like upholstery here. Occasionally you can find a good buy on a mattress but they are few and far between. At least you don't have to by a box for your mattress.

There are a number of us here from Oregon. Good luck!

Costco sells the sofa + recliners but I have no idea what they charge. You could look on Costco.mx. There is a tempurpedic mattress store in Guad but again, I have no idea the cost. Here is a link to the stores - check the Outlet for sales items. (prices are in pesos before you faint) http://www.tempur.com.mx/tiendas.aspx

We bought a queen sized bed and platform at Mr. Rest in Ajijic (don't think I would buy a used bed) for about $4600P. It is a reasonable price for a very nice bed; mattress and platform is the way typical beds are here, not the mattress, box spring and frame typical back home. He was beside Paninos but has moved to just behind the vacant lot between Hole in One and the Pharmacia. There is a big sign. He even delivered it for no extra charge to the southside, about an hours drive and almost beat us back here. Delivery guys always position your purchase and take away all the cardboard/plastic packaging.
And Welcome! It is a wonderful place to live.

There is also a high end bed shop beside iShop at the Laguna Mall. It looks like they have box springs and frames similar to up north.

...on the lighter side: Sometime before Christmas, Walmart put up the big tree and positioned their version of a recliner chair next to it. Visions of cheer, etc.
Before long, the vinyl developed a split on one chair arm where it connects with the side. The good part is that the self-same sample chair now resides, rip and all, in their furniture section.

Going to be hard to find websites that you can browse for furniture.
Mattresses - there's a store in Centro Laguna shopping center, across from Walmart, that has a pretty wide range of bedding.
Furniture - remember that if you decide to buy used you can get things reupholstered at a very reasonable price. If you want NOB styles you are going to be limited, but if willing to run all over in Guadalajara you can probably find what you want. And it probably won't be cheap.

Looking for US stuff is getting easier, but will still cause great frustration and a much thinner wallet. Relax, get used to pounding the pavement instead of the keyboard, and you will soon adapt to new ways to shop. Everything is available, but can be hard to find for a newbie.

As I said, get a good recliner and don't worry about the rest of the living room furniture. Nobody is going to sit on it for more than a few hours so don't worry about how comfortable it is. Worry about your own sitting or lying comfort.

Well I appreciate all the info from those of you with experience there. I was just wondering if any of the stores had websites to get an idea to prepare ahead, to see if the store carries what I'm hoping to find. Also because I have pretty bad arthritis in my knees walking a lot is very painful. I hope to have comfortable sitting room for visitors even if I don't have many, I like having it available. I can just figure it over time, cause I won't be in a big rush! That's the beauty of retiring, right? I hear loud n clear it will be expensive to buy new stuff, yet everyone has said it's still cheaper to buy the furniture you want instead of moving what you have. So I take that's mean it's still cheaper to buy new than the cost of shipping ones furniture. Surely a nice couch and recliner and new bed won't run me 6000.USD right? Otherwise I may as well pay a moving company and just ship my stuff, right?

RVGRINGO wrote:Looking for US stuff is getting easier, but will still cause great frustration and a much thinner wallet.  Relax, get used to pounding the pavement instead of the keyboard, and you will soon adapt to new ways to shop. Everything is available, but can be hard to find for a newbie.

As usual, RVG is right. . ."Relax, get used to pounding the pavement instead of the keyboard. . ."

One of the best things about moving here is getting out and exploring the area, finding the things you want and need, negotiating with the sellers, discovering substitutions if you can't find exactly what you want, making mistakes(!), meeting new people, and picking up a few new Spanish words in the process. It's called exploring, that's half the fun of living here!

Most stores here don't have websites. Most Mexicans don't answer emails - especially in English. Most won't negotiate over the phone, and some don't even have a phone.

Just make your move, it'll all work out.

I think the lady said she wasn't up to pounding much pavement.

"Also because I have pretty bad arthritis in my knees walking a lot is very painful."

Suggestion: price out how much it would cost to have your favorite stuff crated and shipped here. Warehouse it until you find a place to live. We used Seymi for transporting a bunch of our stuff. Never regretted that. It was like having "old friends" in our new place. We added plenty of practical Mexican furnishings afterwards. I found a very comfortable swivel rocker for 650 pesos at a used furniture sale. Recovering it in a more lovable color will be way cheaper than buying it new. Maybe a combination of shipping and some buying after arrival is a way to go.

I thought that was strange advice for someone with bad arthritic knees and obviously no vehicle.

This lady has several issues to deal with upon arrival, and the easiest route may be to find a furnished place that accepts dogs (the latter being an important issue) and which is located near enough to everything that buses and taxis are handy.  Later, the shopping could be more easily accomplished.  I checked out one of your advertisers (Hotel Perico) and saw a dog romping around in one of the photos..........so that might be a possibility. The rates for the units seem very reasonable.

I've noticed that Costco usually has good quality basic seating, as in couches and chairs, reclining and otherwise; that the prices are fair and the folks who take those weekly orders, shop there, and bring the goods to your door can be useful.  You don't need a Costco card when dealing with them, and they have websites to view.  That would be Lakeside Express or Cynthia Ornelas.

You just missed one of the biggest furniture sales of the year put on by Mubles Placentia and held at Expo Guadalajara. Mubles Placentia has a few big stores in the city, one located on Lopez Mateao another on Federalisimo. You can goggle there web site.

martygraw wrote:You just missed one of the biggest furniture sales of the year put on by Mubles Placentia and held at Expo Guadalajara. Mubles Placentia has a few big stores in the city, one located on Lopez Mateao another on Federalisimo. You can goggle there web site.

http://www.mueblesplacencia.com/

I missed the arthritis part, if it was mentioned prior to my post.
I also forgot to mention that finding what you want is much more difficult, and often more expensive, than having what you want made for you locally. We used a couple of furniture makers ten and 13 years ago, but they are no longer there. There are others if you ask around.