4 places to buy furniture in Malaysia

The easiest place to go for furniture shopping in Malaysia is a Kedai Perabot. Perabot is a general furniture store. Perabot in Malay language means 'Furniture'. There are IKEA mall and Viva Mall which is a shopping mall that specializes in furniture in Kuala Lumpur.  

 

Table of Contents

1. Kedai Perabot - Local Furniture Shop

2. IKEA

3. Viva Mall - Furniture Shopping Mall

4. Furniture at Home Applicance Fair

5. And One More - Expensive Sofa From Italy

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Kedai Perabot - Local Furniture Shop

One of the words that I learned automatically despite my poor Malay vocabulary is  'Perabot'. Perabot is a Malay word meaning furniture. When you drive, you can see countless Perabot signs on both sides of the road. Another malay word to catch up quickly was 'kereta' which means a car because of so many used car shops on the street.

 

Anyway these furniture stores are privately run, you can see different pieces of furniture each time you visit. Furniture stores usually use the names Kedai Perabot (Furniture Store) or Galeri Perabot (Furniture Gallery).

 

Perabot Near My House

The reason there are so many furniture stores in Malaysia is because they produce wood. Borneo, well known to us, is an island located on the states of Sabah and Sarawak in Malaysia. And much of Malaysia's wood production comes from Borneo.

 

And my personal guess about many furniture stores is because Malaysians love remodeling or renovation of their homes. In South Korea, too, when moving, there is a tendency to buy new furniture for the new house rather than continuing to use the old sofa or bed.

 

Furniture stores are more common on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur than in downtown Kuala Lumpur because the bigger they are, the more furniture they display. And most of the products on display at furniture stores are sofas

and beds. In the case of wardrobes, a carpenter is hired to assemble them into the desired shape, so the proportion of wardrobes in furniture stores is not big.

 

A furniture store I went to because it was on sale.

Aside from the sofa and bed, you can also see the TV cabinet. However, the prices of TV cabinets at these furniture stores are not as cheap as you might think. Since I didn't like the cheap TV cabinet, I asked a carpenter to make

the TV cabinet in the design I wanted. The cost of having it made by a carpenter was cheaper than that of a furniture store.

 

You can also often see furniture stores selling kitchen sinks,hoods, and gas ranges. Of course, kitchen appliances are also sold at kitchen appliance stores and electronics stores. In the case of kitchen appliances, there are a limited number of manufacturers, so they often sell the same products.

 

TV Cabinet in Malaysian Showroom

That is why it is recommended to purchase kitchen appliances according to the seller's pricing policy. In the case of kitchen appliances, after-sales service is usually provided by the manufacturer, but in some cases, it is handled by the seller, so it is advantageous to purchase from a reputable seller.

 

For the sofa, all you have to do is select the model, whether it will be leather or fabric, the color, and set a delivery date. Normally you can't order today and receive it tomorrow. You should expect it to take some time. I ordered a sofa a month ago.

 

The sofa I was thinking about to buy

The downside of Malaysian Furabot is that because there are so many, you have to sell leg products to buy what you want at the price you want. It's truly a struggle.

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IKEA

If you are not confident in bargaining in Malaysia and feel like you are getting ripped off, IKEA is a good choice. IKEA is located in the city center of Kuala Lumpur, between Bukit Bintang and Ampang where the Korean Embassy is located.

 

Ikea Bowl

There isn't much to see around IKEA Mall, but fortunately there is a subway that goes to IKEA Mall. Additionally, next to IKEA Mall is the new MyTOWN shopping mall. Like many shopping malls in Malaysia, Mytown Shopping Mall also has franchise fast food, popular clothing, and movie theaters.

 

However, IKEA Mall is only located in Kuala Lumpur and not in other cities such as Johor and Penang. IKEA Mall Malaysia is at a similar level to IKEA Mall in Gwangmyeong.

 

IKEA Showroom

 

If you go to IKEA Mall during the week, there won't be too many people, but I don't know what it will be like on the weekend.  You can see more Malay families at IKEA Mall than you might think.

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Viva Mall - Furniture Shopping Mall

Viva Mall is a furniture specialty shopping mall located on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. Most of the companies located in shopping malls are furniture and bed companies.

 

I've been to Viva Mall a few times since it's located on the way home from Kuala Lumpur. In fact, there are many interesting pieces of furniture at Viva Mall. However, you will have to bargain hard to actually make the purchase.

 

Among the interesting items was a wooden rocking chair from Pakistan. I didn't buy it because it wasn't cheap. Plus, there was the additional problem of it not fitting in with our house at all. Do you guess how much it is?

 

Pakistani Rocking Chair

 

Viva Mall is generally quiet. So, no matter which company I go to, I tend to provide friendly explanations. Of course, in general, no matter which store you go to in Malaysia, they are friendly. Anyway, the way to get there is inconvenient. However, there is a monorail that goes nearby.

 

If you're tired of the numerous Furabots in your neighborhood, it's worth a visit to Viva Mall. If you're lucky, you'll find a sofa or bed you like. In the case of beds, major product stores are located here.

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Furniture at Home Appliance Fair

Although there is no furniture fair, there is a furniture corner at the home appliance fair. Fairs are held in large shopping malls such as Midvalley Mall in Malaysia or convention centers in Bukit Jalil. If you look on the road, a shopping mall advertises that they are holding a convention for several days. Fairs invariably have a furniture section.

 

The advantage of the fair is that you can see all kinds of products in one place. However, because furniture is larger than electronic products, displaying it in a showroom has limitations. So, it is not easy to make a purchase decision based on furniture from a few furniture companies at a fair. Unless it's an opportunity to buy furniture you really like at a low price.

 

If you buy at a fair, the store is likely far from your home. Installation will not be a big problem, but if

after-sales service occurs, the further away you are, the more disadvantageous it may be.

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And one more - Expensive Sofa From Italy

 Some of my Malaysian relatives are rich, and I occasionally visit nice homes. If you look around me, I rarely see expensive furniture being used. However, there are furniture stores that sell expensive furniture. This is a place that mainly imports and sells Italian sofas, but there are really no customers in the store.

 

And the price is at a level with an extra  '0' compared to other furniture stores. Of course, Italian sofas are cool. But even if I had the budget to buy an Italian sofa, I would probably buy something else. 

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Try to negotiate prices politely at furniture stores, of course except IKEA.