Great Southwest Furniture Design

About Our Company

Great Southwest Furniture Design, Inc. was established in 1993 by Julian Reyes. Prior to incorporating the business the company was doing business as Route 66 Design having their shop and showroom in Tijeras, NM. Julian who is the president of the company and head designer as well as master carver, worked for a couple of manufacturers of Southwestern furniture in Albuquerque before deciding to open his own company first working at his home garage. Their  website greatswfurniture.com was deployed in late 1999.

To produce furniture Great Southwest Furniture Design, Inc. uses only American kiln dried pine wood between others and also a difference to other companies, they make from scratch and original design the furniture sold to their customers in other words they are not retailers o resellers of furniture they sell what they produce. This is very important because you're dealing with whoever design, build, carve, finish, upholster and sometimes who delivers your furniture in person. Julian personally has delivered hundreds of pieces of furniture across the US.

So what makes their furniture so special you may ask yourself. What we think make our furniture special is of course design, Julian while designing a piece of furniture gets as much information from their customers, dimensions, carving details, stain color and any information that might help him make sure the design is what the customer wants. Since their inception Julian has been very careful to observe high quality standards, no piece of furniture leaves their shop without his final approval.

Once you place an order, Julian personally will get in touch with you to discuss your furniture order and get it on schedule. Depending on the complexity and extension of the order it will take between 1 to 8 weeks to completion. The reason is because the furniture is entirely hand made, there's no assembly line whatsoever. You can be sure that you will take delivery of your furniture and will surprised and your expectations exceeded because they work every single detail for you. Several of his customers ask him to autograph the furniture for them.

In the year 2000 Julian was approached by Phil Watson a former producer for HGTV's "The Furniture Show" that used to air on Sundays. He was very interested in featuring their company in the national TV show. Julian very happy for this opportunity to show his work on a national & international scale accepted and provided Phil and crew as much material for their segment. They spend a couple of days shooting the scenes and interviews at their shop and also some of the video was taken at some of his customers residences. The video give them national exposure and now thanks to technology you can watch it right now!

Okay now, how this works? how to order for example, well they ask for a 60% deposit of your order to be placed on schedule, you can do this by check or credit card if the piece of furniture is already on display here they will work with you in case you want to change something once your order is placed you don't need to decide right away for stain color or fabric. You'll have plenty of time to decide and Julian will personally assist you in deciding. When the order is completed or near completion he'll contact you and provide you with information for delivery that's when you will pay the reminder balance. He will email you if necessary pictures of your furniture.

When you place your order here in our website we don't require your credit card information so don't send it. The purchase order will provide us with elements to prepare an estimate and to have your contact & shipping information. placing the order form does not obligate you in any way. We'll contact you and review all details with you.

We hope this information help you in deciding to become a satisfied customer from our company and if there's any question or comment you might have feel free to contact us at anytime either by phone or Thru our website's contact forms in the customer service page

Our desire is the exceed your expectations in your Southwestern furniture purchase.

Great Southwest Furniture Design, Inc.

Albuquerque Journal     Home  Furnishings     Friday, March 17, 2000

Brothers join forces to create elaborate Southwest furniture

By Tracy Dingman

The talent of three brothers goes into each piece of furniture produced at Great Southwest Furniture Design in Albuquerque.

There's Julian Reyes, who designs and painstakingly carves his New Mexican-style tables, chairs beds and media cabinets for walk-in and custom clients. There's Humberto, who takes care of the business end of the company at 2205 Candelaria NE. And there's Gabriel, who manages the wood shop.

Together the brothers have been in business for seven years, first in Tijeras as Route 66 Design and now in the heights as great southwest for the past year. Twelve years ago, the three emigrated to Albuquerque from Torreon, Mexico, to join relatives who lived here.

A glance through their Great Southwest showroom reveals elaborately carved sugar pine furniture in classic New Mexican style. Massive media centers with painted accents sit next to towering canopy beds and low broad tables. Styles come painted in red, green or antiqued paint accents or finished in honey colored stain.

The detailed carving is perhaps the most eye-catching feature of Julian Reyes' work. It can take him as long as a day to carve a single leg for a table. His tools are "pretty basic---a table saw, joiner, shapers and sanders." He says he taught himself the trade and the New Mexican style years ago.

Customers can either come to Great Southwest and buy furniture off the floor or order it specially made, said Reyes, who does the consulting with the customers.

"They can order more carving, less carving, bigger or smaller, painted or not," he said.

Working on custom orders, he has created literally hundreds of designs.

The Reyes brothers' showroom is located off the beaten tourist track. 

The brothers try to grab the tourist dollar by advertising in publications such as the New Mexico Traveler and Guest Guide, which are distributed to every hotel room in the state. They also have a Web site at greatswfurniture.com.

But people who live all over the country will hear about Great  Southwest  when a segment about the store appears on the cable channel HGTV in May.

The brothers were chosen to appear on HGTV's "The Furniture Show" by Phil Watson, the show's executive producer.

The show will air sometime in May on HGTV, which can be seen at cable channel 49 here in Albuquerque.

Watson said he found out about Great Southwest by word of mouth while at an area trade show.

"This guy was telling me, 'Gee, you ought to check these guys out. These three brothers have come out of nowhere pretty rapidly,' " Said Watson in an interview from his North Carolina headquarters. The Reyes Brothers' company is just the kind of outfit the show likes to feature, said Watson.

"Manufacturers like Great Southwest are really the treasures of America's home furnishings industry," Watson said "These companies do everything by hand, and they make their pieces one at a time.

"Unlike the larger automated companies that are building furniture in gigantic production facilities, there is a heritage of woodworking and craftsmanship here which HGTV feels our viewers need to know about."

The Reyes brothers have seen the six minute segment and say they love the way their furniture looks.

The show is quite influential in furniture and home design circles, which should be good for business, said Julian Reyes, who added, "This will give us the reputation that we need."

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Julian

OK, here is this so you all know who is designing and hand carving your furniture.

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Last Update: 06/15/2008