White glove delivery, explained
White glove delivery is the level of service where the delivery crew does everything between the truck and a finished room. The item comes inside, goes to the room it belongs in, gets unpacked and lightly assembled, and the packaging leaves with the crew. Curbside and threshold delivery stop at the door. White glove finishes the job.
For a retailer or a furniture brand, that difference shows up in reviews and returns. A sofa left in a driveway, or a cabinet assembled wrong by a frustrated customer, costs more than the delivery did. A white glove delivery service moves that risk onto a crew whose job it is.
Which items need white glove delivery?
Anything heavy, fragile or that has to be set up where it will be used: furniture, lighting, decor and framed art, glass and stone tops, store fixtures and displays, and crated pieces for showrooms and events. If a piece can safely be left at the door, threshold delivery costs less. If it has to come inside, be placed and have its packaging taken away, book white glove. Large or multi-piece orders go by 20 to 26 ft box truck with a liftgate, from $325 for a local delivery.
Threshold, room of choice or full white glove
| Service level | Where it stops | Unpacking and assembly | Debris removed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Curbside | At the curb or driveway | No | No |
| Threshold | Just inside the first door | No | No |
| Room of choice | In the room you name | No | No |
| White glove | Placed and set up in the room | Yes, light assembly | Yes |
Full white glove is the last row. When a client only needs room of choice, ask for it, and the quote is priced for that level instead.
White glove logistics for retailers, brands and designers
Alvy Logistics is a business-to-business white glove logistics provider. The people who book it are:
- Retailers and showrooms delivering furniture, lighting and decor to their customers.
- Furniture and home brands selling direct to consumer that need a premium last mile in Los Angeles.
- Interior designers installing a project across several deliveries, often with pieces held in storage until the space is ready.
- Galleries and art advisors moving framed work and objects between galleries, collectors and installers.
- Hospitality and commercial projects where fixtures and furniture go into a building in a set order. See hospitality and FF&E logistics.
In every case the business books and pays for the delivery, and business clients are invoiced. That matters legally as well as practically: our carrier authority excludes household goods, so we do not handle household moves or residential relocations.
White glove furniture delivery in Los Angeles
Los Angeles makes white glove furniture delivery harder than it looks on a map. Hillside homes in the Hollywood Hills and Malibu mean steep driveways and long carries. Westside high-rises usually need an elevator reservation booked with building management, and many ask vendors for a certificate of insurance first; we supply one to the building on request. Downtown lofts often have freight elevators with set hours. We ask about access when you book, so the crew size, truck and timing fit the building, and so nobody discovers a third-floor walk-up on delivery day.
From our warehouse in Valencia, the San Fernando Valley, Pasadena and the Westside are routine, and Orange County deliveries are quoted the same way, by distance and the setup each piece needs.
How a white glove delivery runs
- You book it with the item details, the address and any access notes: stairs, elevator, gate codes, parking.
- We confirm the crew and vehicle. A cargo van for most single pieces, a box truck with a liftgate for larger orders, and a second person when the weight or the carry calls for it.
- Pickup or release. From your store, your vendor, or our warehouse if the piece was stored with us.
- Delivery and setup. Placed, unpacked, lightly assembled and checked over with you before the crew leaves.
- Packaging leaves with us. The room is ready to use when the crew walks out.
While the delivery is under way, our online shipper portal shows the driver’s live location and onsite updates, and the delivery update comes with photos of the piece in place and any condition notes, which a retailer or designer can pass on to the client. If your business runs its own TMS, it can usually be connected to the portal.
When something arrives damaged
Inspect with the crew before they leave. If a piece arrives damaged, note it with the crew on delivery, before anything is assembled; a damaged piece does not get assembled. The crew’s delivery photos and condition notes in the portal give you, your customer and us the same record of how the piece arrived, and your own photos of any damage are still worth taking. Claims are handled in writing under our Terms of Service, and the fastest route to a fix is a damage note made on the spot rather than a call days later.
White glove shipping and freight for fragile, high-value pieces
Art, glass, stone tops and lighting need more than a blanket. Pieces travel wrapped and strapped, loaded so they come off in delivery order and are not stacked. For galleries and designers, we can hold pieces in storage and deliver them in sequence as a space comes together. For what moves the price, see the white glove delivery cost guide, then send the piece details and addresses for a written quote.
