7th Avenue’s Experiential Showrooms Bring Artistry To Interior Design

​Billy Shaw and Josh Stinson, co-founders of 7th Avenue, come from differing backgrounds in business but each with a hand in consumer goods and media. After meeting in college in New York, the two young entrepreneurs poured their focus into building a higher standard for furniture shopping and sustainable design, laying the foundation for what would become 7th Avenue’s defining quality of excellence.

The company’s small but mighty collection of modular sofas do a lot with a little, proving that furniture retail is not the same stuffy affair most of us remember as children. 7th Avenue is by appointment only, and the informed shopper will have a tailored experience when visiting one of their dazzling showrooms. The company’s flagship location in Los Angeles takes residency inside the historic mammoth known as “The Deco Building”, one of the sole survivors of LA’s golden Art Deco past. The formidable structure is gleaming in shades of black and gold and dominates the city’s La Brea skyline, a perfect setting for 7th Avenue’s display. Shoppers are given the opportunity to engage with the products and feel the difference, as with the memory foam blend cushions of the modular sofa collection. 7th Avenue maintains a minimal design aesthetic in order to appeal to a larger audience and let the landscapes around them tell a story. Such is the case with their Orange County showroom, located in the heart of Newport Beach. Tucked inside the Gong Art Gallery, 7th Avenue’s arrangements absorb the cosmopolitan energy of this premiere exhibition space, where both local and international artists routinely share their latest work. In contrast, some furniture retailers supply products that are either so expensive or so elaborate that consumers often feel like they have to treat their furniture like art pieces or precious sculptures. Sofas, for instance, are large investments that people are hesitant to commit to, typically to avoid wear and tear on a pricey purchase. With 7th Avenue, the furniture is designed to be lived in, where memories are made and accidents can (and will) happen without consequence. Their modular sofas are dressed with DWR technology, which significantly reduces the chance of staining. Of course, no fabric is entirely immune to liquids, but their designs are built to repel water and other spills more effectively than market competitors.

​7th Avenue’s innovative strategies and use of space position them at the helm of functional design, a frontierland of furniture that invites newer generations to the table. In many cases, millennials have distanced themselves from purchases without purpose, favoring quality and optimal functionality over mere aesthetic. 7th Avenue has rejuvenated the furniture industry by speaking to this demographic of smart shoppers who demand a product that feels just as good as it looks for years to come. Their showrooms also cater to this mentality, occupying spaces that enhance the product rather than displaying them in sterile warehouses. By coexisting with artful habitats, 7th Avenue presents their brand under an elevated lens while offering themselves to the space entirely, as is the case with their brand new San Francisco showroom. Opened earlier this month, the Mid-Market outpost at The Serif finds 7th Avenue’s modular sofas sharing the stage with residential corners, allowing shoppers the chance to see their new sofa in action. ​

With plans to open additional showrooms in South Bay and San Diego this year, 7th Avenue is quantifying their unique approach to functional design by remaining true and honest in their work. As leaders in this new era of furniture, 7th Avenue is challenging what we know and understand about home furnishings through inventive, immersive showrooms and top-tier products that put the ‘fun’ in functionality. We all love a white statement sofa, and with 7th Avenue in tow, we never have to stress about doing what feels right for our homes.