They didn’t move far but still people have been happy to re-find them.

“Really, you just have to make a U-turn,” Meyers said, “People have been so supportive already.”

Anyone who has taken the opportunity to stop by the Monkey’s Trunk understands why the shop was worth re-discovering. The home furnishing and decor store has a different attitude than many people have come to anticipate. The difference is subtle, in fact if it isn’t pointed out it is easy to miss, but critical to the experience.

A common furniture store trope is to package rooms together, grouping the store as if it is a large furnished home with each “room” independent of the others. The idea is that people can come in and purchase a room, “off the rack” with little hassle.

The Monkey’s Trunk doesn’t really sell “off the rack” kinds of furniture and accessories so to bill themselves as such would undermine both their primary strength and their attitude. “Eclectic” is a random and overused a word, plus it just doesn’t get at the unified vision the Monkey’s Trunk has developed which is less eclectic than distinctive. 

Since they don’t sell “rooms” the shop is laid out in such a way that each piece is accentuated. Chairs, coffee tables and sofas might be placed together in an appealing way but it is more a function of Meyer’s and Saunders’ aesthetic than of an attempt at packaging. But make no mistake, rooms or even entire homes furnished from the Monkey’s Trunk can have a uniqueness that goes well beyond what can be purchased “off the rack”. 

The first reason for this is that the Monkey’s Trunk has exclusive deals with several purveyors meaning that most of what can be purchased there literally can’t be purchased anywhere else in the area. To expand upon that, Meyers said they very rarely restock exclusive items so, and this is especially true of furnishings, when it is gone from the showroom floor it is almost certainly gone for good.

By those lights, it is as if they have a different store every week as deliveries come in and replace  the items that have been sold already. The upside, then, is that if a customer lets something pass and misses out, they might find something else just as appealing the next week. Similarly, if in browsing around a person for some reason doesn’t find what they particularly want, after a few days have passed it might appear.

The second reason kind of ties in with the first. Meyers and Saunders are both decorators and as such have access to fabrics and styles that can be used to transform a piece that is appealing into a piece that is striking.

Beyond that, they provide in-home consultations and services. Meyers said that it isn’t uncommon for them to bring several pieces to a home to try and figure out which one best compliments what is already in place.

In moving to their new location, indirectly across the street from the West Ocean City Wawa, they purchased the building which gave them, if not more space a little more diversity in the way they could present their stock.

Meyers said they are happy to announce that the Atlantic Room, the small banquet and event room to let, has elected to stay in place.