Quality and Build discussion

I have a small email list I am on that is car-focused, and one my the guys sent out an email on furniture, so I responded. I wrote MUCH more than I intended and figured I would just repost it here, its unfiltered and pretty straightforward.

"I hate to say it, but we used to get higher end furniture than we do now. We definitely want “made in the USA” stuff, but for the most part don’t go high end. When we furnished our first Hinsdale house, we went to Marshall Field’s furniture store, which was a giant stand-alone building. We worked with a guy there and got mainly Baker traditional furniture. Very expensive, but lasts a lifetime. The problem is that styles and desires change over a lifetime. So when we replaced some of the living room furniture at our second Hinsdale house, we went more “good, but not top end.” Same thing for the most part here in Naples. I think, and Duane can certainly step in here and correct me, that for upholstered goods, the good stuff will look good and last long enough, but you don’t really SEE the difference between it and high end if you use nice fabrics. Unless you are someone like Duane, you likely wouldn’t notice so much that the construction is good, but not the best. With hard goods, like tables, desks, buffets, etc., more of the workmanship in noticeable and a high end piece will have nicer wood, better finishing, more detail, etc. We certainly didn’t do the millennial thing and get "made in China, Restoration Hardware" furniture, but didn’t go Baker either.

I’m curious to hear Duane’s take on this." - D

And my reply:

"My take? Furniture always comes down to money, same as cars. If money were no object, we would all have Ferraris and Maybachs in the garage. The furniture world is highly competitive, suckie margins, and cutthroat. So while one company tries to create a "brand" such as Rolex or Porsche or Apple, its damn hard to do because there is almost nothing proprietary and the guy down the street (and there are thousands of them) merely coples them at a lower price and people are more than happy to buy the less costly variant. Repeat this cycle endlessly......it's a price-driven industry.

I could never get rich selling furniture because the margins suck and if I try to raise the margins, the guy down the street will be lower in price and people shop the hell out of brands. That's how tight things are in this business and why you see furniture stores fail left and right. Clothing stores at the mall get 3x cost or more (pay $ 20 for a shirt, sell for $ 60) as an example. If that shirt was furniture, we would pay $ 20 and sell it for $ 37, that's the price it will come out to. The same pressure is on manufacturers and trucking companies, everything in the chain. That's why I say this is a price driven industry.

Every supplier and maker knows how to make things right, there is no rocket science in this business. But they build to a price point. A typical supplier planning meeting would be like:

"It would cost us $ 1,558 to build this piece correctly using time-tested methods" - engineer

"That's too much, dealers won't buy it, we need it out the door for $ 799" - management

"I can't do it without changing the internal build of the pieces and compromising top tier build standards. If we move to a less costly frame like MDF and then veneer over it, use a dowel joint instead of mortise and tenon, and cut four steps out of the finish process, we can get to $ 945 on price" - engineer

"I hate MDF as a frame-up, it's too easy for it to fail and give us a bad reputation, what if we use a 5-ply plywood instead? - management

"We can do and come in at $ 1,088 on cost" - engineer

"How about we move to Vietnam production" ? - management

"Yes, we can get to $ 799 landed at our warehouse, but it's not going to be USA made, we have long container ship times, have to buy 200 units at a time, are subject to currency fluctuations and language barriers, have no finish options other than one or two, and get pushback from consumers for being an import, however it will be made to the same build standard as the $ 1,088 price domestically." - engineer

"We need a bigger warehouse to store 200 units at a time, that's a significant cost" - management

And then they make a decision based on marketing strategy and the number of units they think they can sell/ You have a few (very few) legacy companies that don't have that discussion and stop at the first sentence. That's your Baker, Century, Hancock and Moore, Councill, Karges, Kindel, and the price becomes what it will be, realizing they are not trying to sell to Everyman. But these are small companies that remain small - the majority of consumers won't shop at that level even if they can afford it

Can you as the consumer tell a difference? Yes, but not really when the piece is new. Where the difference comes is in performance over time, where the item is still holding up to standards 10 or 20 years from now, or longer. Royal Pedic bedding is like that - damn beds still sleep good when they are 20 years old, most mattresses are shot at 7 to 8 years. But the RP costs double. Case goods can last hundreds of years, good upholstery 30 years if in leather, 15 to 18 in fabrics. Performance over time is the key. So you have to find your price point you want to buy at. And here's the rub - you as the consumer don't really know what to look for, so you trust the salesman to steer you correctly and listen to the pitch. The thing is, the average furniture salesperson makes $ 30K a year, doesn't know their product, and just gives you a line of crap that has no basis in reality. So ultimately you as the consumer buy on price more often than not.

So here's the thing. I've been doing this 36 years now. I have NEVER - EVER had a single customer come up to me and say "I think I overpaid for this high quality piece you sold me". Truly, it has never happened. But I have had dozens of customers come into the store and tell me they regretted buying a cheaper piece. That's quite common. But everyone has a different financial position or goal, so you have to do what works best for you.

But yes, to circle back to the original question you can tell the difference in all categories. Like most things, it just takes a trained eye, plus an honest salesperson to explain it.