Yep. It's possible. Here's a link my son sent me about a line of furniture that is shipped to the homeowner via FedEx or UPS.
http://www.fastcodesign.com/3050442/wanted/an-ex-apple-engineer-takes-on-the-furniture-industry-with-couches-you-can-fedex?partner=rss
The world keeps changing before our very eyes.
gene
To many folks want easier to get, toss, and pay less - hopefully good craftsmanship wins out. The funny thing is people impulse buy instead of weighing the benefits of quality.
SA
Not a totally new concept---recliners have had removable backs for years, and the guy who trained me always made furniture in 4 pieces (back, seat,arms) , upholstered them then assembled and trimmed. We would occasionally have to assemble on site to get the piece in the room.
My other observation is that they have only one style----ugly.
I saw a line of sofas a few years ago, primarily designed for installation in NYC apartments. On their ad video, the had a six-year old assemble a sofa in a bit under 5 minutes.
Then of course, there's this, that's been around for a long time in flat-box furniture
(https://forum.upholster.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F1.bp.blogspot.com%2F_Exbbk3PYEZE%2FS8RDp7c3IfI%2FAAAAAAAAALs%2F5-2TPqrw1M0%2Fs1600%2FIKEA.jpg&hash=c450613837d29b309e99fcdf3e4259a0)
And
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST141MKcXSg (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST141MKcXSg)
I swear, some of that flat box stuff only saves them about 20 cubic inches of shipping container.
And God forbid, if you had to put it all back in the box and take it back to the store for a refund. You would have to be a world champion Tetris player to figure out how they originally packed it.
I agree that this concept isn't really all that new. Customers often bring me new furniture from Ikea still un-assembled in the box (and that little toy Allen wrench to put it together with). Some have a Velcro, or zippered dust cover on the bottom so you can access the bolts.
I got re-thinking my post. Maybe Gene meant that ordering factory direct was new.