Is it really necessary to have a German native speaker accompany you to a furniture store in Cologne? In some cases it is. One of the things that is great about Germany for English speakers, is that a lot of people really do speak at least a little English. However, this does not mean that everyone speaks English, it’s kind of a luck game really. When you’re heading to a furniture store with the intent to buy, rather than to window shop, you really should bring a colleague or friend along who speaks German. Yes, it may just be furniture that you’re looking at and you don’t need a representative to tell you what looks good, because you’ve got your own styles and your own vision of what pieces you want in your home. However, when it comes to purchasing, there are a few things that you may need to know.
In terms of financing, having a German friend go over those German terms with the representative and then translate them to you will be very beneficial. When doing things on your own, especially if your German isn’t very good, you’ll get the smiles and the nodding, and translate based on body language. Which, when it comes to a sales rep, you don’t want to go by body language for a financial transaction because they’ve got chirpy and jolly down even when selling you a deal that’s not 00% great.
Then of course, there are the dreaded shipping times. Translating body language may lead you to believe that your furniture will be in your new apartment before you’ve even left the store when in actuality, you may have to wait months for it to be delivered.
Conclusion:
Bring a friend or bring a dictionary, either way, you’ll need the German language with you when furniture shopping.
Some great furniture stores in Cologne include:
http://www.moebel-hausmann.de/gremberghoven/
Phone number: 02203 9042-0
Address: Hansestraße 5-53
549 Köln Porz-Gremberghoven
Email Address: [email protected]
http://www.roller.de/koeln-marsdorf/markt/6e9c2.html
Phone number: 02234/98830
Address: Max-Planck-Str. 5 50858 Köln-Marsdorf
Email Address: [email protected]
