Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country
Founded 05-05-05
March 1, 2007 issue
The Decorative Collection—The Most Comfortable Chairs in the World
Story by Sam Calhoun
They might possibly be the most comfortable chairs in the world. And when customers walk into The Decorative Collection, 4501 Tynecastle Highway, Suite 14, they’ll meet Betty McClure who is perhaps one of the most knowledgeable people in the world about the top-quality chairs that come from Norway.
“The chair is phenomenal,” said McClure, who has operated the store that sells the Stressless Ekornes chairs, sofas, ottomans, tables, loveseats, sectionals and coffee tables for 10 years. “It makes your back do what it’s supposed to do—there’s only one true Ekornes with lumbar support.”
As the only chair in the world to be endorsed by the American Chiropractic Association—partly because orthopedic doctors designed it—each Stressless Ekornes chair is made in Norway, tailored to the highest standards. The leather chair—no vinyl—is dyed all the way through so that if it gets scratched, customers won’t see any rawhide. The leather comes in four grades—the highest being Poloma that features a soft and buttery texture. Each chair’s base is made of several hundred layers of beech wood that is dyed to any color of the customer’s choosing.
The newer chairs have headrests that move up and down so customers can put pressure where they need it most and all the chairs come in a wide range of styles and colors to match any motif.
Most of McClure’s chairs come in three sizes—large, medium and small—so the lumbar support fits perfectly with the customer. The chairs even feature a sleep position.
“The chairs are perfect for people with sleep apnea because they have to sleep somewhat sitting up,” said McClure.
Whether reclined, upright or in the sleep position, the chairs treat the body like it needs to be treated for total-body relaxation.
“This chair is the answer to the proper posture of a good back. I’m really selling something that is good for people—doing something that helps people,” said McClure. “My chair tells your back what to do. All other recliners don’t do that.”
“I want to sell someone a chair that’s going to mean the world for their back. This furniture means the world to people,” she said.
McClure has sold the Stressless Ekornes line of chairs for the past 10 years in the High Country. She owns a franchise of the line that is sold in 52 countries.
McClure moved to Spruce Pine more than 40 years ago with her late husband Dan. Dan and Betty became sweethearts in the 8th grade and were married for 45 years and had three children before he passed away 16 years ago. One day while camping with their children at Crabtree Meadows, Dan turned to Betty and said, “I’d love to spend the rest of my life here.” And they did.
Before she moved into the furniture industry, McClure and her husband dabbled in a variety of jobs. McClure worked as a schoolteacher, a Christmas tree farmer and a secretary and she helped run a feeder pig operation among other occupations before she settled in the comfortable furniture realm.
The couple’s three children now have children of their own. Betty has ten grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. McClure’s son Dan lives in Spruce Pine and runs McClure Land Construction. She also has two daughters. Linda Lee Peck lives in Denton, Texas, and has six children, five of them adopted from Guatemala, and Betty Anne Draughon lives in Hendersonville and is a librarian.
When McClure’s husband died, she attempted to stay home, “but those four walls got to me. I have to be around people. I love people,” she said.
McClure answered her restlessness by opening a gift shop in Spruce Pine. After four years, she wanted a change and decided to go into the furniture retail business, opening a shop in the Green Mansions across from the entrance to Seven Devils. Not long after, a franchise for Stressless Ekornes became available and McClure jumped on the chance.
She moved into a smaller location at the Shoppes at Tynecastle where she featured four chairs.
“Those four chairs sold so well that I decided I wasn’t going to sell anything but Ekornes,” said McClure. “I gave up selling furniture because [with these chairs] I know what I’m selling and these people stand behind their furniture. People call from all over the country to tell me how much they love their chairs.”
But it’s not just the chairs they love. Stressless Ekornes also manufactures loveseats, sofas and sectionals that can come with or without lumbar support and feature a choice of either a low or a high back. The company also makes ottomans with coffee tables, dyed to match the chairs and sofas, and tables of all shapes and sizes, such as computer tables, swing tables, tables that hook on the sides of chairs and standalone accent tables made of polished beech wood.
The ottomans also add to the body support inherent in every chair. With their slight downward slope, the ottomans are designed to promote good blood flow when paired with a chair. They even are designed to assist in the sleep position.
The cost of the chairs ranges from $995 to $2,500, with the sofa sets slightly more expensive. To protect customers, Stressless Ekornes doesn’t allow its franchisers to change the prices of the products, but the company offers a sale once a year. Right now, McClure has a dozen chairs that feature the old style of ottoman that she can discount for customers.
McClure, who is 79 years old, runs the store by herself and wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I don’t think anyone could have the feel for the chair like I do,” she said.
McClure doesn’t have any Stressless Ekornes in her own home in Little Switzerland because she’s only at home for 1.5 hours in the evening and 1.5 hours in the morning.
“And I wasn’t paying for a dog to sit in it all day,” she quipped.
But McClure sits in one of her chairs for one hour at the end of every day at the store and said that’s all she needs for her back—that’s how effective the product is.
McClure also said that she loves her store’s location. At her age, she said, it’s hard to handle deliveries sometimes—especially when the weather is bad—and neighboring storeowners are always quick to lend a hand.
“You don’t find that everywhere,” she added.
For this reason and many others, specifically the quality of her product, McClure has no plans to leave the business.
“The good Lord willing, I am going to sell Stressless Ekornes as long as he’ll let me,” McClure said.
For more information about the Stressless Ekornes line of furniture, click to www.ekornes.com.
The Decorative Collection is located at 4501 Tynecastle Highway, Suite 14, in Banner Elk in the Shoppes at Tynecastle. The store is open from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday from January to March and from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday from April to December. For more information, call 828-898-7844.
Graphics:
[Decorative 1]
Benji, The Decorative Collection owner Betty McClure’s dog, relaxes on a Stressless Ekornes cuddle corner sofa at the store at 4501 Tynecastle Highway. Benji is often at the store that features the only chairs in the world to be endorsed by the American Chiropractic Association. Photo by Sam Calhoun
[Decorative 2]
Betty McClure relaxes on the Stressless Ekornes cuddle corner sofa with her dog Benji. McClure owns The Decorative Collection—a franchise of the Stressless Ekornes line of chairs and sofas. Photo by Sam Calhoun
[Decorative 3]
Each Stressless Ekornes chair has specially designed lumbar supports. Photo by Sam Calhoun
[Decorative 4]
Stressless Ekornes also makes top-quality end tables out of the same beech wood used for the bases in the company’s line of chairs. Photo by Sam Calhoun
[Decorative 5.1] or [[Decorative 5.2] or [Decorative 5.3]
Stressless Ekornes chairs come in all shapes, sizes and colors to match any room. Photo by Sam Calhoun
[Decorative 6]
All the information customers need to know about a Stressless Ekornes product is available at The Decorative Collection in Banner Elk. Photo by Sam Calhoun
[Decorative 7]
Standalone