Buying Furniture and Household Items
How and Where To Buy in Cuenca

Buying furniture in Cuenca (and, to a lesser extent, appliances and other household items) can be a nightmare if you aren't familiar with how things are done in Ecuador.

This series of articles discusses how to avoid these problems and where to find various furniture, appliance and housewares stores in Cuenca.

Some of them are extra special, so we're publishing separate pages about them.

How To Buy Furniture in Cuenca

There are several things you can do to make your furniture-buying experience a pleasant one. We outline them here.

How To Buy Appliances in Cuenca

Buying appliances, flat screen TVs and similar large items isn't as nerve-wracking as buying furniture. It can always be easier though. We discuss how to buy appliances here.

Buying Household Items in Cuenca

Good news! Buying household items is fairly straightforward. The toughest job will be finding quality items. Much of what's sold in Ecuador these days comes from China.

So you'll likely find some great deals on crappy products, and some good deals on fairly good products. But the really high quality products will be expensive.

Our only advice is to shop around as much as you're willing to do, haggle in the smaller mom and pop-type shops, and pay cash when you can (although the large stores may take credit cards at no extra charge).

Where To Buy Furniture in Cuenca

There are a lot of furniture stores of varying quality in Cuenca, from antiques to traditional to the very modern. Those that we really like will have a page written about them. The rest are listed below.

We'll be adding to this list as we discover or learn about new shops with quality furniture.

Antique Furniture

La Trastienda Antique Shops—Step back in time to old world Europe

Rustic (but Custom-made) Furniture

Deco Rústicas, located at Baltazara de Calderón 3-45 near Miguel Herédia. Pretty good quality at very reasonable prices. Some very interesting pieces on display. They have several catalogues from which you can choose a piece that they'll reproduce. The phone number is 07-2821569 or cell at 09-6859821/09-3000685.

Upscale/Modern Furniture

Muebles Moblime, located at Sucre 4-64 near Mariano Cueva. Some very nice furniture if you're looking for slightly more upscale or modern than the typical Cuenca furniture shop. Prices are reasonable. The phone number is 07-2835660. Email is moblime@cue.satnet.net.

Casual Furniture (Rattan, Bamboo, Glass and Metal, etc.)

MegaHierro (pronounced mega yarrrrow) is a TrueValue hardware store that's much more than a hardware store. Closer to a big box store, it carries household items, furniture, small appliances, lighting fixtures, plus regular hardware store items.

Its furniture selection is very interesting. If you just can't find what you're looking for anywhere else, try MegaHierro. The website is www.megahierro.com. The email address is elhierro@cue.satnet.net.

The bigger store is located near the airport, next door to the Supermaxi. Its phone number is 07-2831211.

The smaller one is located on the Feria Libre traffic circle on Av. de las Américas. Its phone number is 07-2805807.

Office Furniture

Diserval® Interiorismo + Mobiliario has some very nice office furniture. After hours of searching, Jeff had to return to this shop, the first he investigated, as it had the only computer desk that would fit his 24" iMac and had a long enough keyboard tray.

Diserval is located at Sucre 5-80 near Hermano Miguel. The phone number is 07-282-0331. They list a website at www.diserval.com, but it was down at the time of writing.

Officenter also has nice furniture, and they're very easy to deal with. Lulie ordered a file cabinet from them. They required no money down, delivered it a few days later after making it custom for her, and she paid several days after that when she finally made it into El Centro.

Officenter is located at Sucre 6-01, literally right on the corner of Hermano Miguel. The phone number is 07-2845268 or cell at 09-8414343. Their email address is officent@etapaonline.net.ec.

Where To Buy Appliances in Cuenca

There are almost too many places to count. For example, on Luis Cordero between Bolívar and Gran Colombia, there are close to 10 stores that sell appliances, plus one around the corner on Bolívar and two or three more around the corner on Gran Colombia.

Where To Buy Household Items in Cuenca

One of the best places for quality mattresses, curtains and decorative items for your home is Casa Flores, on Av. Ordóñez Lasso, near the Oro Verde hotel.

If you're looking for cheap housewares, Coral stores are a good bet. This link goes to an article about shopping for food there. Use it for the location nearest you. An important thing to remember, however, is that Coral stores will not accept returns. If it breaks, you deal with it. They won't.

Click the Like button to share this page with your friends...