West of the Hump, the Highway 4 climb over the Port Alberni Summit, there's one Merit Home Furniture showroom, and it's on Third Avenue in Port Alberni. It's a furniture, mattress and appliance store at 2935 Third Ave, Port Alberni, BC V9Y 2A6, and it opened in 1997. Of our four stores, it's the closest to Tofino, Ucluelet and Bamfield.
Michael and I run the Duncan store, on Ingram Street in the Cowichan Valley, so I'm writing about Third Avenue from the other side of the Island. The Port Alberni team knows its own floor, and where this page runs out, their phone number picks up.
Every Merit showroom runs on a strict no-pressure rule. For a family that has driven in from Ucluelet, that means a whole afternoon to sit, lie down and measure. Leaving with notes instead of a receipt is an ordinary visit.
Finding Merit on Third Avenue in Port Alberni
The Port Alberni store is on Third Avenue between Mar Street and Angus Street, about 190 metres from City Hall on Argyle Street. It closes half an hour after our other three stores. These details were checked in September 2026.
| Address | 2935 Third Ave, Port Alberni, BC V9Y 2A6 |
|---|---|
| Phone | (250) 724-6644 |
| merithomefurniture@shaw.ca | |
| Hours | Monday to Saturday, 9:30am to 5:30pm; closed Sunday |
| Nearest bus stop | 3rd Ave & Mar, about 120 metres away, on route 1 Southside |
BC Transit's route 1 stops at that corner 18 times on a weekday, between 6:55am and 6:15pm, and 15 times on a Saturday from 9am. Route 4 Crosstown uses the same corner only in the evening, after the store has closed. There's no BC Transit link from the coast: the West Coast route runs between Tofino and Ucluelet and doesn't come over to Port Alberni.
What the Google reviews say about the Third Avenue store
Our September 3, 2026 capture of the Port Alberni Google listing holds 72 reviews, 42 with written comments. Service comes up most, then prices, appliances and delivery, with fridges, freezers, washers, dryers and a dishwasher all named. That dishwasher went to a Tofino household that drove over for it.
The drive in from Tofino, Ucluelet and Bamfield, by road
A drive from Tofino, Ucluelet or Bamfield reaches Third Avenue before Highway 4 starts its climb over the Hump. Sproat Lake is next door, and the two rows for the east side show what crossing the Summit adds.
| From | Road distance to Third Ave |
|---|---|
| Sproat Lake Provincial Park | About 14 km, on Highway 4 |
| Bamfield | About 90 km, by Bamfield Road and the Bamfield Main |
| Ucluelet | About 102 km, on Highway 4 |
| Tofino | About 126 km, on Highway 4 |
| Qualicum Beach | About 44 km, east over the Hump |
| Our Nanaimo store | About 79 km, east over the Hump |
Highway 4 decides how the day goes, and DriveBC, the Province's road-report service, is the place to check it before leaving. From October 1 to March 31, the stretch from the Island Highway through Port Alberni to the Tofino-Ucluelet junction is a designated winter tire route. On a car, that means tires marked M+S or with the mountain snowflake, with at least 3.5 mm of tread.
The highway also shuts for fires and repairs. In June 2023 a wildfire at Cameron Lake Bluff closed it, and the Province's gravel detour through Bamfield and Lake Cowichan added four hours. Slope repairs near Cameron Lake were scheduled to close it again on February 25, 2026, from 9am to 3pm. Both closures were east of Port Alberni, so neither stood between the coast and Third Avenue.
Starting prices for sofas, guest beds and mattresses at Merit
Merit's website prices give a fair idea of the spend before anyone gets in the car. We read the ranges below from the live listings on October 16, 2026, before applicable taxes. They cover the listings that name our Port Alberni store, far more than the Third Avenue floor holds.
| What we list | How many | Price range |
|---|---|---|
| Sofas | 38 in the sofa collection | $549 to $2,899 for the 14 priced online |
| Sleeper sofas | 9 | $799 to $1,399 for the 2 priced online |
| Queen mattresses | 24 mattresses | $1,449 to $1,549 for the 2 Restwell queens priced online |
| Wine coolers and beverage centres | 17 | Call for our best price |
Each range covers the pieces with an online price, which are the ones our Duncan store also sells. The rest carry no online price, so call for our best price. Recliners and lift chairs are on the site too, and how a lift chair works has a guide of its own.
Where is the most affordable place to buy furniture in Port Alberni?
Price comparisons only mean something model by model: the same Ashley sofa, the same Restwell queen, the same cover. Some lines show no price online at all, and why a few pieces go unpriced is explained separately. For a piece found cheaper elsewhere, Merit's Best Price Guarantee reads: "find a better price, and we'll refund 100% of the difference."
We offer financing!* Paying over time goes through Fairstone®, and the Port Alberni store can explain the application.
*On approved credit. Terms and conditions apply. An annual fee will be charged to your account as set out in the Retail Credit Agreement. See our Financing page for more details about our plans.
Sofas and beds for small coast homes and guest rooms
For a small coast living room, a loveseat leaves the most floor. The Decor-Rest 3285 leather loveseat, from Decor-Rest of Woodbridge, Ontario, is 62 inches wide and 40 deep. It is carried at our Port Alberni store, so Third Avenue gives its best price by phone.
Island Living sofas, including the made-to-order range it builds in Burnaby, are sold through our Duncan store. Which Island Living pieces are built in Burnaby is spelled out in its own guide.
For a spare room or a cabin, a sofa bed does two jobs. The Elite Sofas Nordel queen sofa bed, from a maker in Delta, BC, is 80 inches long and 36 deep, with its mattress included. Elite also makes it as a 73-inch double and a 58-inch twin. Sleepchest cabinet beds are sold through our Duncan store, and how a cabinet bed compares with a Murphy bed is covered in its own guide.
How a new mattress gets home from Third Avenue, in the car or on the delivery truck, is worth asking when you call. A boxed mattress weighed against a showroom one sets out the trade-offs.
Buying a fridge, washer or wine cooler in Port Alberni
Appliances are one of the three things the Port Alberni store sells. Our Campbell River store carries them too, and Duncan is dropping them. On October 9, 2026, 456 appliance listings on our website named Port Alberni, Silhouette's built-in coolers among them.
In a sponsored feature it placed in the Alberni Valley News in February 2026, the store named the appliance brands it carried then: Whirlpool, Maytag, Amana, LG, Frigidaire and Electrolux. All six now have listings that name Port Alberni, with no price shown online. So a fridge or a laundry pair starts with a phone call, to ask what's in the building and what hauling the old machine away costs.
For a small kitchen, the Silhouette Tuscany is a 15-inch built-in wine cellar that holds 28 bottles. Third Avenue gives its best price over the phone. Before a cooler goes into a kitchen on the coast, how Silhouette handles warranty repairs at a distance is worth a read. The appliance guides page has the rest.
Measuring a coast home before driving to Port Alberni
Measuring matters more from Ucluelet than from across town, because a sofa that won't go in can mean a second round trip of about 200 km. One Port Alberni review describes a sofa the delivery crew couldn't get through a front door. The store took it back and helped the family choose one that fit.
- Where it will stand. Wall length, and where the windows, heaters or wood stove sit.
- Every opening on the way. The width of each door, hall and stair turn between the driveway and that room.
- The piece's own numbers. A doorway only cares about the smaller of a sofa's height and depth. The Decor-Rest 2285, one of Decor-Rest's Woodbridge sofas, is 38 inches high, 40 deep and 84 wide.
- Two photos. One of the room and one of the entrance show what a tape measure misses.
For hallways, stairs and legs that come off, there's a full guide to working out whether a sofa clears the door. A measuring slip costs more from the coast than from town. Special orders take a 24% deposit, and Merit encourages exchanges for up to 30 days, case by case. When an exchange is possible is covered in more detail.
That wood stove on the measuring list matters for leather too. For a leather sofa or recliner near one, our advice is to condition the leather at least twice a year, with a product the maker's care terms allow. It keeps the leather from cracking before its time.
Checks before leaving the coast for Third Avenue
Each of these is cheaper to learn by phone than on arrival.
- Sunday hours found online. At least one directory listing still shows the store open on Sundays, and it isn't.
- One particular piece. A named sofa or mattress may be an order rather than something on the floor to try.
- Stairs. In its February 2026 sponsored feature, the store described its showroom as four floors, so if steps are hard for anyone coming, ask how each floor is reached.
Does Port Alberni deliver to Tofino, Ucluelet and Bamfield?
Tofino, Ucluelet, Sproat Lake and Bamfield are the communities our family lists for the Port Alberni store, along with the Alberni Valley itself. Whether Port Alberni delivers to each, and at what price, isn't published yet. It's a question to ask along with the quote.
The only delivery price Merit publishes is the Duncan store's: $150 across the Island, assembly included. From Duncan, a mattress headed across the Island may need a different shipping method.
Old furniture removal is priced store by store as well. Duncan's take-away is usually $25 to $50 a piece. One Port Alberni reviewer paid extra to have an old fridge and oven removed when the new ones came, so Port Alberni's figure belongs on the same call.
Calling the Port Alberni store before the drive
One call to Third Avenue settles what this page can't: what's on the floor this week, and whether it delivers to your town, and the price. With the measurements and photos from the list above to hand, that call takes a few minutes.
Call the Port Alberni store, (250) 724-6644
If the drive east suits better, the four showrooms compared sets Nanaimo, Campbell River and Duncan beside this one. Warranty repairs, financing and the rest of Merit's service terms sit on one page for the whole Island. The Cozzia massage chairs on our site are sold through our Duncan store and have guides of their own.
Checking these Port Alberni figures
- OpenStreetMap, 2935 3rd Avenue, Port Alberni (the store's map outline and the streets around it), checked September 2026.
- OSRM, the Open Source Routing Machine (road distances on OpenStreetMap data, from each community's centre to the store), checked September 2026.
- DriveBC, Province of British Columbia road conditions and closures, checked September 2026.
- Province of BC, designated winter tire and chain-up routes (South Coast map, Highway 4 marked October 1 to March 31), checked September 2026.
- Province of BC, passenger vehicle tire and chain requirements, checked September 2026.
- BC Gov News, Highway 4 detour in place due to Cameron Lake Bluff wildfire (June 7, 2023), checked September 2026.
- BC Gov News, Highway 4 will be closed near Cameron Lake on Feb. 25 (February 18, 2026), checked September 2026.
- BC Transit open data, Port Alberni and West Coast schedule feeds (version of September 22, 2026, trip counts for the week of October 5), checked September 2026.
- City of Port Alberni (City Hall, 4850 Argyle Street), checked September 2026.
- Alberni Valley News, sponsored feature placed by our Port Alberni store (February 17, 2026), checked September 2026.
- Decor-Rest, company history (Woodbridge, Ontario), checked September 2026.
- Merit's About, delivery, returns and financing pages; furniture and mattress prices and counts read live on October 16, 2026, and the appliance count on October 9; Port Alberni Google reviews captured on September 3, 2026.