‘Building a business that will last’: AptDeco’s Reham Fagiri on scaling economically

Furniture became a hot item in 2020, and resale platform AptDeco was ready for that demand.

The company’s sales grew more than 300% last year, and is trying to ride that wave through this year. According to co-founder and CEO Reham Fagiri, the company’s emphasis is now on expansion. AptDeco began in New York in 2014, and has been slowly growing ever since. Over the years, it added delivery to Northern New Jersey as well as Washington D.C. Now, more cities are being added. “We launched in Philadelphia earlier this year, and now -- literally two weeks ago -- just launched in the San Francisco Bay Area,” she said on the Modern Retail Podcast. “We’re seeing a lot of opportunity.”

Part of the reason for this growth is because AptDeco was able to capitalize on big consumer shifts. More people were stuck at home in 2020 and were buying nicer furniture. “We also saw people selling their products and looking to upgrade to more higher-end pieces,” she said.

While many furniture companies have had supply chain issues due to logistics bottlenecks, AptDeco owns its fulfillment network and was able to mitigate much of that thanks to its delivery network. “We are logistics,” said Fagiri. “The reason why we own [delivery] is because we want to make sure we control the experience.”

It’s these elements that have helped AptDeco grow. Now, with expansion on the horizon, the plan is to have it become more of a household name.