Santo Domingo - where to buy home appliances, furnitures & tiles?

[Ula]

Hello, I hope everyone here is having a good day.
I am on a mission to find a good store in Santo Domingo with:
1. home appliances such as a fridge, a wash machine, a dishwasher, a stove & an oven, an extractor - basically everything for the kitchen, ideally from Samsung
2. nice wall & floor tiles
3. good quality furnitures and home decorations

I have seen that for hardware stores Ferreteria Americana was recommended, for electronics appliances Plaza Lama; I have also added to my must-check list Innova Centro and Cerrarte (for tiles) and Illumel (for furnitures) and was wondering if somebody could share more ideas with me.
All tips and names of places worth visiting will be greatly appreciated!
Thank you!

 

[AlterEgo]

Be careful buying appliances at Plaza Lama. Consider Corripio or Radio Centro.

 

[TropicalPaul]

The best place to buy tiles in Santo Domingo is the area close to the intersection of the Prolongacion de 27 de Febrero and Duarte. I usually go to Merkaven which is on the Prolongacion de 27 de Febrero, they have a really good selection and can deliver. There are several other places on the right side of the Autopista Duarte as you head out of town in that area which also sell tiles. Another option is Cerarte on 27th February, in Naco. More pricey than Merkaven. If you want to buy Colonial tiles, the best place is in San Cristobal, Industrias Aguayo, they manufacture a wide range of reproduction Colonial designs. Their website has the range:

https://aguayo.com.do/productos-y-soluciones/pavimentos-interior-mosaicos-aguayo-tiles/

Regarding furniture, I think Ilumel is really overpriced and aims at the Dominican market which, to my mind, has quite old fashioned taste. Lots of really heavy dark wood, lot of bling, very square boxey designs. Casa Cuesta is worth having a look around and of course there is IKEA. I would strongly recommend that you go to Villa Consuelo where they make furniture. If you don't speak Spanish, you'll definitely need a local to go with you. You can get beautiful mahogany beds made to order for about US$ 500, pick your design and they make it for you. Wonderful.

 

[jeanchris]

Appliances I would only consider PriceSmart

Furniture I would buy online & import with EncargoPaq (best rate for maritime shipment)

Stay away from Plaza lama, I've made that mistake myself 7 years ago.

 

[irishpaddy]

I bought the majority of the furniture for my apartment at ASHLEY HOME STORE in Santo Domingo ….have had no problems with it and am more than happy four years after ...had one problem when the sofa was delivered at they exchanged it no problem at all
kitchen equipment was bought at Corripio ...again no problems

 

[Ula]

Thank you so much - this is very helpful! I will definitely check all the places recommended.

 

[Hillbilly]

My 2 cents:

Lama is much cheaper than Corripio, by far. But you take your chances. It's a questions of whether to believe that you got a good deal or that you were gypped. I bought a Reversible door fridge from them, but it came without the hardware. No way to get the hardware..

That said, I do wholly approve of PriceSmart. Their quality is excellent and they stand by their products. Their prices are WAY below Corripio ($14,000 DOP on a Samsung fridge, for instance)

I have a washer/dryer combo, and a stove from them.

Remember please that many of the gas products (clothes dryer/ stove) come with Natural Gas equipment that needs to be changed to LPG...it is not difficult or expensive to do.

Stay away from any other stores.

HB

 

[USA DOC]

Appliances I would only consider PriceSmart

Furniture I would buy online & import with EncargoPaq (best rate for maritime shipment)

Stay away from Plaza lama, I've made that mistake myself 7 years ago.

..had good luck at Pricemart, Appliances....they have a black Friday sale soon, and you should be there in morning, also for electronics...

 

[jeanchris]

I would stay away from Corripio as well, prices are ridiculous.

Ashley store is nice but again you are paying easily 2x the price over ordering online.

I bought a few furniture from Ashley on Amazon, total bill on Amazon was something around 700$, Ashley store in Sto Dgo, 1600$ for the same exact one (wish I was joking..)

Paid around 300$ to get it delivered through encargo paq, only bad thing is you have to wait 15-18 days for your furnitures.

PriceSmart is the only store in this country that offers you a real warranty and will replace if you have an issue, all those other store will make you go trough hell if they break after a week, there price vs costco us/can are high for same product But always way cheaper then other store you can compare with in DR.

 

[jeanchris]

I bought 3 air conditioner, one fridg, one estufa, an inverter and a mattress when I was fresh arrived in this country at Plaza lama 7 years ago.

Only thing that is still working / remaining is one of the A/C and the mattress

I am pretty sure a lot of there stuff they sell is refurbished and they don't mention it and this is why price is cheap then other store.

 

[Ula]

Thank you for all the details! In this case Plaza Lama is off my list and the first store to visit is Price Smart Los Prados in Santo Domingo which I will do tomorrow. Do I need to have a membership card and if yes, is it easy to get one?

 

[Ula]

Ashley store is nice but again you are paying easily 2x the price over ordering online.
I bought a few furniture from Ashley on Amazon, total bill on Amazon was something around 700$, Ashley store in Sto Dgo, 1600$ for the same exact one (wish I was joking..)

That's insane! I am happy that Amazon delivers here, heard some rumours that when ordering from US you need to pay high customs fees which sometimes doubles the price.

 

[windeguy]

That's insane! I am happy that Amazon delivers here, heard some rumours that when ordering from US you need to pay high customs fees which sometimes doubles the price.

Amazon does not deliver here, to my knowledge. They would deliver to a US based freight forwarder and then it would be brought in to the DR using them. Get a firm fixed price quote for anything over $200 US from the freight forwarder. You can almost always save money going this way.

 

[jeanchris]

Thank you for all the details! In this case Plaza Lama is off my list and the first store to visit is Price Smart Los Prados in Santo Domingo which I will do tomorrow. Do I need to have a membership card and if yes, is it easy to get one?

You need a membership.

Easy to get one.

 

[jeanchris]

That's insane! I am happy that Amazon delivers here, heard some rumours that when ordering from US you need to pay high customs fees which sometimes doubles the price.

You do need to pay customs fees when it's over 200$. Double the price only true on certain electronics and specific items, like if you had to buy a TV for example i would tell you buy it at PriceSmart, not Amazon.

For furnitures you will save a lot ordering online.

 

[Ula]

One more time thank everyone for taking their time to share with me tips and advises - I used them all

PriceSmart was the best place visited - we bought a fridge, a TV, a sound system, a great quality blender and a beautiful, stainless sink. What I wasn't aware of is that every single PriceSmart stocks a different products, therefore it makes sense to visit all the shops in an area. Their customer service is excellent.

Tiendas Corripio is overpriced, indeed, however we managed to get a discount on Samsung wash machine & dryer that we wanted.

Illumel is overpriced, too but having said it, I came back with so many ideas and inspirations that I am happy we visited the shop. Illumel has an outlet in Santo Domingo which I would like to visit, just going to Santo Domingo with its crazy traffic cools down my enthusiasm.

Ashley Home Store stocks a lot but nothing really contemporary. However, I found there on sale beautiful plates (and on sale!), so cannot complain.

Ferreteria Americana turned out to be the best hardware store visited, we found a good quality plugs, switches, tiles (from LaIberica) and many other technical items.

Sadly, Cerrarte was my biggest disappointment. After 2 days spent in the shop, while finalising the order (quotations received, everything discussed before), we were told the shop stocks 20m2 of the tiles we wanted for the whole apartment.

Ferreteria Listo is definitely worth visiting - I believe this chain is brand new as the shop we went to, wasn't even marked on Google Maps.

Now we are looking for good carpenters but only on the north coast and having attended a few first meeting I know it will be a challenge!

 

[alexw]

This thread was very helpful for me too. I keep renting furnished condos but eventually id like to buy my own furniture. Thanks.

 

[Ula]

Good afternoon, I need an another advice.
My husband fell in love in the white sofa we saw in a few shops on the south coast. Unfortunately, all shops stocking it sold it out. I was not sure about the quality, so I am more relaxed than him, just fully into research.

I believe that furnitures that you sit on such as sofas, chairs, bed should be tested before buying, so would really like to purchase the couch in the stationary shop. My question is: have you seen this item https://www.amazon.com/Poundex-Piec...4177636&rnid=2941120011&s=home-garden&sr=1-18
somewhere in a shop in the north coast? South coast? Another question: do you have any experience with vinyl?
Have a nice day, everyone!

 

[william webster]

Police Radar
Always on the weekend....

Saturdays - TO Las Terr........
Sundays FROM .....

Like clockwork

 

[waytogo]

Good afternoon, I need an another advice.
My husband fell in love in the white sofa we saw in a few shops on the south coast. Unfortunately, all shops stocking it sold it out. I was not sure about the quality, so I am more relaxed than him, just fully into research.

I believe that furnitures that you sit on such as sofas, chairs, bed should be tested before buying, so would really like to purchase the couch in the stationary shop. My question is: have you seen this item https://www.amazon.com/Poundex-Piec...4177636&rnid=2941120011&s=home-garden&sr=1-18
somewhere in a shop in the north coast? South coast? Another question: do you have any experience with vinyl?
Have a nice day, everyone!

Pertaining to your link, read the 1-2-and 3 star reviews, you may change your mind......