Shopping and Utilities

A big surprise to many newcomers living off campus is that the apartments here are NOT furnished.  Furnishing an empty apartment can seem like an overwhelming task.  But it really is not that difficult.  The most painful thing is probably having to spend more money than you anticipated on decorating.

There are different routes you can take to look for furniture. There are lots of stores near Duke selling all different types of furniture and household items.  For new mattresses and beds, you can walk to SEARS at Northgate Mall.  Sears will deliver to your house for a fee.  

TROSA Furniture is about a 20 minute walk from the East Campus bus stop.  They sell all kinds of used furniture EXCEPT beds.  Their address is 301 S. Duke street.  TROSA charges a delivery fee of $49.  They deliver Wednesdays and Saturdays only.

Habitat for Humanity Restore, is about a 10 minute car or taxi ride.  They also sell all kinds of used furniture EXCEPT beds.  Their address is: #3710 Shannon Road, Durham.  Habitat for Humanity Restore charges a delivery fee of $50. 

Another idea is to purchase furniture from people who are leaving Duke.  Join the intlhouse email list serv or take a look at the Duke Lists of the Duke Dialogue.

You can get some really good deals by purchasing furniture and household items from someone who is leaving town.  The one drawback is that the seller usually expects you to take the furniture from them.   This means that you need some form of transportation.  For those who do not drive or do not own a car, do not fear.  Most taxi companies in Durham will carry smaller size furniture, if it fits, in their van.  For very large pieces of furniture you can rent a little truck or van.  It is not expensive.

A third option is to rent furniture for the time you are here. When you rent furniture, the furniture store delivers the pieces to your house and picks it all up again when it is time for you to depart.  Rental furniture is always new furniture and quite nice.  If you are at Duke for less than 6 months, this may be the best option for you.  If you are at Duke for more than 6 - 8 months, it is more economical to purchase used furniture and then sell it prior to your departure.

For more information about places to purchase used furniture as well as ideas on how to transport furniture, please see our handout titled Shopping.

For those of you living here without a car, International House offers Saturday morning shopping trips the first and third Saturdays of a month, during the academic year only.

UTILITIES
For those of you living in an APARTMENT off-campus, you will need to connect and pay for certain utilities each month.  Normally this includes electricity, land-line telephone and cable tv.  The apartment complex takes care of the water and sewage.  For those of you living in a HOUSE off-campus, you may be responsible for additional utilities (for example gas and water).  Make sure to inquire about what utilities you will be responsible for when looking at an apartment or house.

For those living in Durham or Chapel Hill, the local electric company is DUKE POWER.  The Cable Televison company is also the same - TIME WARNER Cable.
For information on how to connect to each of these companies, you can also go to our handout on Utilities.

Reminder: You DO NOT need a Social Security number when setting up service in your name for utilities.   You will be required to pay deposits.  If you experience problems trying to establish an account, do let us know and we will do our best to assist you.