For students looking to furnish their apartments this summer and fall and, at the same time, searching for tunes to blast from their balconies, the newest addition on East Beaver Avenue provides the goods for both wishes.
The Fat Couch, 323 E. Beaver Ave., is the newest addition to the stretch of shops located under apartments on the avenue. The store sells a variety of vintage furniture and new and used CDs at a discounted cost. The Fat Couch is neighbor to the newly opened Quizno's, 124 E. Beaver Ave.
The owner of the End Result, 109 S. Allen St., Laura Herman decided to open The Fat Couch after noticing a lack of good used furniture shops in town.
"The furniture has always interested me," she said. "There isn't much of it in State College."
Manager and fiancée Quincy Eagles also said vintage furniture is "something that's fairly difficult to find in State College, and [The Fat Couch] is pretty unique."
Eagles said Herman collects pieces of furniture from flea markets and yard sales all over, including places as far as Florida and as local as central Pennsylvania.
The small square store, with its noticeably purple walls and music humming in the background, features everything from hanging lamps to flatware to memorabilia from the 1980s cartoon the Smurfs. Dating back to 1929, two short white speckled stools are the store's oldest item and a bright red couch, the stores "centerpiece," is the most expensive at $325, Eagles said.
While the combination of CDs and furniture may seem odd, Eagles said it is a profitable combination. All CDs, new and used, are priced between $2 and $5, and range in genre from rap to country to reggae to alternative.
"It's great that State College finally has a place which sells vintage furniture, especially for students who live off campus," said Colleen Strawhacker (freshman-anthropology).
The Goodwill Industries Store, 212 S. Allen, a primary source for low-cost furniture, is not concerned about losing business. "This is Goodwill," said lead worker Ivy Reed. "Nothing can overpower Goodwill."
As for The Fat Couch, Eagles said, business looks "promising."
