Chairish, an online marketplace for home decor, has raised $33 million in Series B funding. 

The San Francisco-based company was co-founded in 2013 by former retail and fashion executive Anna Brockway, who told Cheddar on Monday that the new funding comes as Chairish taps into fresh demand for home furnishings amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

"One of the things that we're seeing and that by our measure has really helped our business is just the amount of time Americans are spending at home," said Brockway, who is also the president of Chairish. "In terms of waking hours, Americans have gone from spending six hours at home to now sixteen hours at home, so that means people really had to rethink their spaces and in some cases even where they live."

She explained that this shift has led to an uptick in furniture sales and accelerated the movement, which existed prior to the pandemic, away from brick-and-mortar to online by two to five years.

The Chairish site is projected to bring in four million visitors this month, according to Brockway, and the funding round will support expansion to meet the rapid growth in customers. 

"We're racing to keep up with demand, adding more inventory, more customer service, and just keeping the site scaling," she said. 

Top sellers include home office pieces, such as desks and swivel chairs, in-home dining pieces, outdoor furniture, and what Brockway calls "little luxuries" such as vintage barware and porcelain decor. 

"What we're seeing is a big surge in first-time buyers," she said, adding that new buyers were up between 50 to 80 percent over the past few months. 

Brockway is confident that once customers become accustomed to the selection and convenience of online shopping, "they rarely go back to the traditional ways of shopping."

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