Small Town Furniture Shopping

My husband and I are in the process of buying a leather sofa and chair to replace a 10+ year old cloth sectional from Lexington. As with our last purchase, we are frustrated with shopping locally in a small community.

Our current choices for the sofa are from Elanor Rigby Leather, sold by a newish retailer. We found what appeared to be an unprotected pull-up leather in a color we like for a decent price for what I believe is a mid-range quality product built in Mexico. Should I be concern d about spring cushions in a leather sofa? Or is this the least of our worries as the frame includes plywood and stapled corners?

Our other possible option is part of Century's Leatherstone collection from a long time retailer from whom we purchased furniture more than 20 years ago. But this dealer only has 2 pieces of Century, both in fabric. Although they are knowledgeable about other lines in the store, they really can't tell me much about Century or show me dealer info that describes the build. There is a video on the Century website that tears apart a chair from the Signature collection, but it's not clear that the build is the same on the Leatherstone.

In addition, we have yet to find a leather we like (the dealer didn't have many swatches shown on Century's website). With 10+ grades of leather, I'm concerned that an unprotected leather from Century will be more expensive than a Grade 4 leather from H&M.

Any thoughts on the build of the Century Leatherstone line?

If neither of these work for us at an acceptable price, it's 150 miles or so to an H&M dealer. My husband would prefer to see an example of H&M leather before buying.

Thanks for any thought or insights. - Suzanne

Hi Suzanne,

Well myself, I would RUN from a leather sofa made in Mexico with a plywood build and stapled corners. No frame will hold together with staples over time. The Elanor Rigby people where in my store several years pitching their line and it didn't interest me at all because of the build, though they had some nice looking hides I won't buy anything for my store that is not made correctly. If I wouldn't own it, why would I expect my customers to? That's always been my guideline.

Century has a good rep and probably does the build correctly, though I am not familiar with their specific construction on that Leatherstone grouping. If its made here in the USA, its probably done well. I have no idea of their price points, but the selling dealer can certainly get a full swatch setup of leather for you to look at.

Good luck!

Thanks Duane. Your instincts were the same as mine (I'm new to the forum but already you have taught me well!).

I read on another post that Century has acquired Hancock & Moore. It would not surprise me if Century phases out its leather line in the future because it doesn't appear to do it as well and yet is no less expensive. As I said, our local dealer only has 2 pieces of Century on the floor, both with fabric upholstery.

Based on other posts, we won't be the only ones buying H&M furniture from you sight unseen. If I wanted to move forward with H&M swatches from you, which should come first: the swatches or the price quote?

Thanks.

Century will eventually own Hancock & Moore (the deal is still pending and should close in September) but they are not changing a thing. The owner of Century has made it known that he has no intention of tampering with the very successful H&M formula, for the foreseeable future they will run as separate companies and not intermix, even the showrooms in High Point and the sales reps will remain separate. It will be an invisible transition and there are no leadership changes planned - everyone at H&M stays right where they are. This is one of the reasons why H&M agreed to sell to Century, because they will leave the whole Hancock & Moore operation intact, especially the employees and staff.

You can get swatches and prices in a single post on the QUOTES section of the forum, just be sure to put your full mailing address in there. This may sound surprising, but at least half of all the swatch requests I get from folks fail to give me their address to mail them to! I guess they are excited and forget to do so.....lol