(Roundabouts sells pre-owned products that help the environment by reducing waste | Photo courtesy of Roundabouts Home Consignments)
“There used to be seven furniture consignment stores in Central Oregon,” said Gavin Graham, co-owner of Roundabouts Home Consignments. “We were the last one standing.”
Born of necessity, Roundabouts traces its origin to the trajectory he and his wife Alison followed when deciding to move from the resort town of Steamboat Springs, Colo. after the 2008 crash — when the couple found themselves “fighting to stay alive — shoveling and plowing snow instead of enjoying it,” Graham said.
As he described, a four-day scouting trip to Bend cemented the growing town as their next place to live, so the couple “packed up the kids (aged eight months and two years at the time), three dogs, and our possessions” and headed west — only to discover that since their initial visit, “home prices had almost doubled, and the cost of living had risen substantially.”
Realizing they needed to swap out their current furniture in order to live comfortably in a small rental house, selling the pieces and finding affordable replacements from second-hand and pre-owned stores was financially imperative.
“We looked around and around, but felt let down at not encountering the consignment store experience we knew. Both of us subsequently arrived at the same decision: Let’s open a place that is fun, friendly, fair, and passionate about honest value,” he said. “Plus, as a bonus, selling pre-owned products would help the environment by reducing waste, and provide relief to the massive carbon footprint created by new furniture manufacturing and shipping.”
Calling upon his years of retail, construction, and woodshop experience, Graham — with his wife as co-owner — opened Roundabouts Home Consignments in 2015, growing it over the next seven years into a thriving and profitable business that was open six days a week, and employed seven people.
Then COVID hit. “And everybody else in local furniture consignment shut down one by one,” Graham said.
While initially able to sustain their own operation, staffing became an insurmountable challenge. As Graham cited, “From 2020-2024, we went through more than 40 employees — and didn’t fire a single person. Employment was a constant juggling act.”
Simultaneously, the rapid growth of online shopping (Facebook Marketplace being a primary example), required a radical pivot. “We needed to be Internet-driven as patrons began searching for furniture online before ever venturing to the local brick-and-mortar store,” said Graham.
Being a “design inspiration for customers” — who praised him as “fair, honest, and selective” without necessarily spending money at Roundabouts — was not a sustainable format, he noted.
(To expand, the online consignment service market is projected to grow at an annual rate of 10.4 percent from 2026 to 2033.)
As part of their shift in strategy, the Grahams have moved away from consignment (as will soon be reflected in a new company name). Instead, they focus on buying (and often refurbishing) pre-owned home furnishings and décor direct from sellers — offering customers the options of buying online and by appointment only at the existing Roundabouts space on Second Street.
“We’re happy with this operating structure, as the percentage of time spent with potential buyers who don’t end up making a purchase has dropped exponentially,” Graham said. “Fifty to 60 percent of our customers who make an appointment purchase what they come in for, or end up buying something else that attracted their attention.”
Graham emphasized that — as before — eco-junking/hauling, estate vacating, and material reclamation services, as well as furniture repair and custom orders, are still offered. Details are available on the company’s website — RHCBEND.COM — that, along with its Instagram and Facebook profiles, enable people to stay up to date on Roundabouts’ 6,500 square feet of inventory.
“If something catches your eye, DM, email, call or send a pigeon and we’ll happily get you in,” said Alison Graham. “Whether you’re a fan of solid wood antiques, high-design, or more modern clean-line furnishings — or have a sentimental piece that needs some love — Roundabouts can help.”
