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No improvement in delivery times for ordered furniture
As of August 2021, the foam situation has improved somewhat but now there are wood and mechanism shortages (for motion). Delivery times are still running close to 6 months and there are long transit times as well once shipped. The situation has NOT improved overall. Dealers cannot get stock quickly or expedite your order. This is a waiting game, and patience is your virtue.
As a dealer, I am hesitant to order floor stock 6 or more months out as well, because I don't know that market conditions will be at that time. 2020/21 has been very brisk in sales, will that trend continue? I have no idea (nor does anyone I talk with). I certainly hope we will see a calming on the constant barrage of price increases - that concerns me greatly.
At my store, floor models are always for sale (many stores will not currently sell their floor models), so if you need something sooner rather than later and find something suitable I have on display you can avoid the wait and take it home or have it delivered quickly.
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Re: No improvement in delivery times for ordered furniture
In what has to be a bizarre turnabout, one of our forum members ordered two Hancock and Moore recliners in mid May of this year and then a few days ago (end of July) ordered a Your Way ottoman. As I saw the new Acknowledgement come in the thought occurred to me to call H&M and see if I could get the ottoman added to the May order as it would save some shipping costs for the client. Imagine my surprise when they told me the ottoman was already in production and would be done in a few weeks because they had all the components! The two recliners haven’t even started because of motion mechanism shortages. Foam is starting to ease up, and now it’s metal and wood. So there will be two ships after all….
So realistically, build times are really dependent on components being available. And just an FYI, dealers cannot call to check on component availability for a particular order/ frame. There is no system in place to do so. Once an order is entered, acknowledged and then it entered the build system computer programs, then we can call to see how it may progress. This is three weeks after the dealer sends in the order.
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Re: No improvement in delivery times for ordered furniture
The state of the furniture industry and trucking companies continues to be in turmoil. Things are NOT improving. I say this because people are coming in the store and saying "Things must be getting better" and also expecting production times to be shorter and they are not.
The Delta Variant has hit Catawba County of North Carolina hard, with most people hospitalized 35 years old and under. The factories are back on masks, and there are a lot of people out, plus lots of new hires. This means a work force that cannot catch up and more mistakes made as new employees are inexperienced. Trucking companies cannot get help (or don't want to pay for it) so there is a lack of warehouse people to offload trucks, and a lack of drivers. It can take a month to get freight from Hickory NC to my store - an 8 hour drive. Pre-covid, it was 4 to 6 days on average once shipped. Some furniture is sitting in very hot, very humid trailers for too long and deteriorating inside the boxes, it was never designed for the high temps and humidity we saw in August.
Delivery companies have new hires, and they are damaging a lot of furniture. Far higher rates than normal. There is an Art to handling furniture, it's not just shoving it around.
As a dealer, I am personally extremely frustrated by all this. I built my reputation on running a tight, well-organized operation that is responsible and timely. Now all of this is outside my control. I can't call in a favor and get things "rushed", it can't happen. I can't get the furniture shipped quicker in transit short of driving a truck those 8 hours and picking it up. And of course damages by white glove delivery services are particularly upsetting because they are all avoidable, and after waiting for 6 months - to have it arrived damaged is understandably upsetting.
It's not just the furniture industry, though. I ordered a custom Pella sliding glass door in June for a new deck/room addition to my home and it arrived yesterday at my house. Wrong size, wrong model. Mis-ordered and though my paperwork was correct, the door was not. My contractor said "We can make it work but will have to reframe the wall and use the smaller size they sent." Getting a new one is another 3 months, so we kept the one they sent as it was the last part of the project. Ugh.
Expect issues the rest of this year and well into 2022. I don't see this letting up anytime soon.
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Re: No improvement in delivery times for ordered furniture
Talking to Taylor King today, they are on 7 months build time, losing ground on time - no gaining. Add to that 6 weeks or more delivery time and you should plan on 9 months from time of order until you see the furniture. No makers are improving on delivery times.
What I am seeing happen is a noted lack of patience. I am very upfront about how long things are estimated to take, and some clients are getting upset over it. Sorry folks, nothing I can do. There are no secret back-channel phone calls I can make to speed up your order. If you are told 6 to 7 months build time, it does no good to call in three months after ordering to ask about your order status and then telling me how disappointed you are.
If you need something sooner, buy floor stock from the dealer of your choice. That's all I can say on speed of your order. Also realize that estimates are all over the board - they change depending on supply of materials and manpower, none of the manufacturers are fully staffed, there is no additional work force to hire right now.
Hang in there - we are all doing the best we can.
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Re: No improvement in delivery times for ordered furniture
Today in a meeting at work we were told they are suddenly getting a big increase in applications for nursing assistants since the extra unemployment benefits ended, Still no GOOD candidates but a clear increase. Here is hoping that it spreads across areas that are hurting for workers.
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3 Attachment(s)
Re: No improvement in delivery times for ordered furniture
I have two types of customers, those that are pretty chilled out and patient, and on the flip side those that are more demanding and believe that Covid has run its course.
Nothing is improving folks. If anything, it's getting worse. it's frustrating for me as well as you - and equally so for the manufactuers. Realize no one makes money until you have your ordered items in your hand. The dealer, the manufacturer, and even the shipping companies have no cash flow if the goods are not getting to you. It's in all our best interests to make it all happen for you. But we cannot work miracles. Realize price increases keep coming and if you are in line, I strongly suggest you should stay in line. If you bail out and go somewhere else to try, likely you will give up the price you had at time of order. In my opinion, you will NOT see prices coming down, it's not going to happen.
And perhaps relax your requirements a little. Maybe accept a color or form factor on something that a dealer has in stock rather than going without until next Spring? I am scrambling right now to keep the showroom full, making calls to see if anyone has items in stock or a cancelled order I can buy. Like you, I have to wait for production to be done in the same time manner. Sarah ordered two Bradington Young sofas for stock yesterday (including the new 201 series motion) and realistically they won't be here until March or April. Ugh. There was a time not too many years ago when B-Y would ship in three weeks - that ship has sailed though, not likely to return in the foreseeable future.
Here's a letter to dealers from Alex Shuford III, the CEO of Rock House Brands, which are some of the biggest companies in the trade. Thought I would share as he is the man at the top, and he's telling it like it is.
Attachment 14070Attachment 14071Attachment 14072
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Re: No improvement in delivery times for ordered furniture
This too shall pass. Its tough, people are losing patience. In reality, the demand for furniture is good for the industry, but it would be even better if they were able to meet demand. But it is better than no one ordering furniture and factories closing and going out of business left and right. I just wish everyone would stop and take a breath. Its a sofa. Its a recliner. You can afford to be ordering good quality furniture. You are not lying in ICU on a ventilator. You are not getting what you want when you want it and you aren't used to that. Time to learn patience and the idea that good things are worth waiting for. Be kind. Not all the changes going on are going to be to our liking even if they are permanent changes. We can't control everything. Again, you are not in lying in ICU on a ventilator, and hopefully no one you love is either. That is something that almost 700,000 people can no longer say. I know of which I speak. Sometimes life makes us reassess our priorities, like it or not. We need to do that. And we all need to show kindness to each other more than ever.
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Re: No improvement in delivery times for ordered furniture
Are these 201 motion series sofa sold yet? If not what colors/styles are they? Thanks.
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Re: No improvement in delivery times for ordered furniture
I'm not sure if you posted this in the correct forum thread, but in any case we have (1) Bradington Young Model 201-90 Raymond Dual Recliner Sofa on order for stock in leather 920300-97. This was ordered on 09/23/21 and is available. Will probably complete Feb / March 2022. If the leather has not yet been cut we *may* be able to change the cover on it.
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Re: No improvement in delivery times for ordered furniture
Another price increase on the way, this time from Fjord's on April 1st. Solely due to transport costs.
I suspect we will see another wave of increases from all suppliers right after the High Point Market in early April. Fuel prices are jacking everything up, I am already seeing it on our surcharges on freight bills coming to the store. So far, we are holding the line on increases, however we are going to have to have a small order surcharge for any single item less than 100 lb shipped of $ 30. That would be like one office chair, or one barstool, or one nightstand, etc.
Order times are not improving. Right now plan on 7 months, we are seeing product come in from July and August 2021 orders at this time. If you want something for the Fall, order it now and you will probably get it in October, (maybe September, but not likely).
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Re: No improvement in delivery times for ordered furniture
Quote:
Originally Posted by
drcollie
I'm not sure if you posted this in the correct forum thread, but in any case we have (1) Bradington Young Model 201-90 Raymond Dual Recliner Sofa on order for stock in leather 920300-97. This was ordered on 09/23/21 and is available. Will probably complete Feb / March 2022. If the leather has not yet been cut we *may* be able to change the cover on it.
Just wondering what the status was on this 200 series piece. Was it delivered or is it on the floor at the store?
Thank you!
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Re: No improvement in delivery times for ordered furniture
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Inconceivable
Just wondering what the status was on this 200 series piece. Was it delivered or is it on the floor at the store?
Thank you!
We cancelled this order, we cut our floor stock orders in half back in February as our store is full. We do not have any B-Y or H&M 200 Series on order at this time, nor are likely to order them for floor stock, the sofas are too heavy and too difficult to deliver.
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Re: No improvement in delivery times for ordered furniture
An update to this thread because we are having several folks thinking "times should be improving" on building pieces. I'm here to tell you they are not improving, and if anything - they are lengthening.
What has happened is the work force in the Carolinas has disappeared. Every company, every business in that furniture-making region is looking for workers. Many of the restaurants in and around the Hickory NC area cannot even open regular hours because they have no employees, for example. Every furniture company and virtually every business in Catawba County has a HELP WANTED sign out. There are even job fairs at the local high schools looking to hire and train the Senior graduating class students (those not going to college).
I know people are getting frustrated at the long lead times, so are we. How do we plan for what we need for floor stock in 2023, for example? What will the economy be like then? What will consumer demand be? A lot Wash DC area stores ordered way too much stock thinking the Covid home furnishing boom would last forever, and now they have inventory backed up so badly they are refusing to unload the trucks from the carriers. That's a bad place to be in when you are full in your store and your warehouse.
Patience is the key, your order will eventually get done. We can't "speed it up", and it will not be completed ahead of schedule. April '22 as I write this, we are mostly seeing orders complete that were written in July and August 2021. That's 8 to 9 months, and its regardless of the maker - they are all running that long. If you need something quickly, or even before the end of 2022, you should probably try to find something in stock that will work for your application.
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Re: No improvement in delivery times for ordered furniture
I ordered more H&M pieces just prior to one of the many price increases last year. They were finally shipped two days ago and now with a furniture delivery service. Duane said not to expect it any time soon as there remains a big shortage of long haul truck drivers (I live on the West Coast.) In 2012 H&M shipping was about 3 weeks to my house. In 2021 my H&M order was 7 weeks in transit. In 2022 I am not expecting to get this any sooner. Likely to receive it this in mid June 2022. Just hope it is delivered undamaged. I found out people handling your expensive leather furniture are for the most part unskilled.
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Re: No improvement in delivery times for ordered furniture
We have seen a massive shift in the employee work forces in this industry as people leave for higher paying jobs and different environments, or simply retire or decide to live more simply.
Furniture delivery in particular is never an aspired-to career. No one ever says "When I grow up I want to drive diesel trucks around the country and delivery big and heavy furniture into people's homes". It's a job you fall into, not one you seek. From 1987 to 2004 I personally delivered much of our Keeping Room furniture up and down the East Coast in our Freightliner we used to have, it's a hard job. So yes, there is substantial unskilled labor in that market and there is a skill set to develop in working two guys as a team. I have two new guys for our local deliveries right now and am trying to get them trained up as well, it takes time..
Basically there were five national white glove delivery services pre-Covid that run 48 state and now there are only three that I know of.
The Best is Plycon Van Lines, by a wide margin. The problem is they are twice the price of the other two. Zero damage claims, skilled labor, easy communications, good rolling stock and most importantly it stays entirely within the Plycon company, they don't sub out. Most my clients don't want to pay their prices. They are not particularly fast.
Sun Delivery / America West is our go-to white glove delivery that balances a good price with acceptable damage rates, but has poor communication since Covid and does hand off to third party partners. Plus we can work up a price quote in less than a minute, which is important when you have twenty price inquires a day on furniture.
Sunbelt Express is about 10 to 15% more than Sun Delivery, has better communications, but is not any quicker. They will also hand off to third party partners. We have been using them more these days and are waiting to hear back from clients on recent experiences with them.
Even Hancock and Moore is seeking new hires - as is every furniture maker in America. Here's Phil Brown, who runs Hancock and Moore day-to-day talking to his existing workers to see if they know of anyone who wants to work there and learn the business. This just posted today on H&M's Facebook page.
https://fb.watch/cxpp5VsbzL/
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Re: No improvement in delivery times for ordered furniture
I am retired military and moved all my household goods 8 times while on my 20 years active duty. The packing and loading is no problem because you have eyes on during that process. In a door to door move there is no problem as you have eyes on when they unload that same 18-wheel van. The problems occur if (God forbid) your 18,000 pounds of belongs go into temporary storage. Trucks are off loaded into the warehouse while you are not there. No eyes on. We have had things like Persian wool rugs and expensive Ash dining room furniture sit out in the rain for a day or two, before going into the storage facility. I had my Honda 650 motorcycle dented/damaged. I know H&M packs for shipping correctly. If it is shipped in H&M boxes by the delivery services to the white glove partners it will be fine. The problem comes when the white glove partner unboxes the furniture. (No eyes on.) This is the where problems occur. The other problems occur when untrained workers take it off the truck and try to figure out how to negotiate your 36" entrance, or move it around your staircase newell post.
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Re: No improvement in delivery times for ordered furniture
An update to this thread. Delivery times continue to be lengthy for ordered furniture, there is no real improvement. All furniture makers are short-staffed, every one of them. If you are looking for furniture for the Holidays, you may be already past that point by now as of the date of this post for made-to-order pieces.
What you are going to see however, is massive overstocks on furniture ordered for inventory by many stores. Knowing there were very long lead times, many stores (not The Keeping Room) put in large orders a year ago - primarily for imports - and all that is not landing at their already full warehouses. Business slowed in early March as people were ready to travel again and get outside, not buy home furnishings. It won't be long until stores start putting out sale periods for in-stock product, they have to clear their warehouses so I predict there will be bargains coming to a store near you soon.
We are even seeing some suppliers offering specials on items they have accumulating in their warehouses. They need to clear space as well for new orders coming in behind what they have now. Once its on the water, they have to take it and its more economical to sell it off at lower margins than to rent more warehouse space.
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Re: No improvement in delivery times for ordered furniture
It's August 2022, and production times for new orders are getting worse, not better. I know, we are all tired of hearing "Supply Chain Issues" and "Delays due to Covid". I am, you are, everyone is. But the reality is - its a real factor. Just checking around with my suppliers:
Century Upholstery and Taylor King Upholstery are at 9 to 10 months.
Bradington-Young is at 7.5 months
Jessica Charles and MARQ around 5 months
Hancock and Moore is all over the place, from 4 months to 10 to 11 months if motion pieces. Higher end leathers tend to be in stock more and move out quicker.
Hooker Furniture, Woodbridge and Jonathan Charles are all Imported, if in their warehouse its 3 weeks to ship, if out of stock up to a year. Because all the orders they placed with their factories a year ago and now landing, they have surprisingly good stock on many items for now.
There are no ways to speed up orders. You can save a little time by picking up at the factories in North Carolina and self-hauling. That will shave off 4 to 6 weeks delivery time.
Here at The Keeping Room, we are conservative on ordering floor stock. We don't know what demand will be a 8 to 12 months from now. There are lots of stories of other retail furniture stores who over-ordered during the high demand at the height of Covid and now are stuck with hundreds of pieces they cannot warehouse or sell through quickly. It's a disaster for them....we don't intend to join them in that misery and would rather have gaps in the floor than overages.
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Re: No improvement in delivery times for ordered furniture
I'm assuming this article claiming that warehouses are overstocked is only talking about the Ashley Furniture's of the world?
https://www.furnituretoday.com/opini...ll-mcloughlin/
I wonder if there are some deals to be had for the higher end mass market furniture, although not sure what brands those would even be.
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Re: No improvement in delivery times for ordered furniture
Yes, basically a lot of the overseas manufacturers are seeing that because they have to design and order in batches far in advance. The more custom companies that build-to-order like H&M do not that going on.
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Re: No improvement in delivery times for ordered furniture
The overstock situation mainly applies to imports from Pacific Rim countries (China, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, etc). Those pieces are made in huge batches, maybe 200 identical units at a time on larger pieces, 800 at a time on smaller ones. What happened was EVERYONE ordered to the max, both companies that make product there and individual stores, because during Covid's peak people were coming in and buying most anything, emptying stores of floor stock. Everyone was sold out, every warehouse empty. So the natural business reaction was to order more, to not get caught short. A lot more. Now all that product has come rolling in and there is no where to put it. We are seeing massive supplier sales on imports that we carry - trouble is, we don't need the product and people are not asking for it. So it sits in the supplier's warehouse and they are getting killed on the monetary cost of carrying inventory. At the store level, bigger stores built new warehouses, figuring they could make a killing on having pieces in stock, ready to go. And they filled those warehouses up to where there is no more space. They are telling their freight carriers to halt deliveries and paying storage fees at those carriers while all the new product sits in trailers. They also have moratoriums on any new buying. So there are bound to be deals on imports - at any store.
Domestic product not so much, because that is all built to order, one at a time. There are no large batches. Demand is still out there, because people still have money and good paychecks. The difference is they are not taking just anything to fill space and will wait to get what they want.
At The Keeping Room, Sarah and I decided not to get into that ordering frenzy, not with all the talk of recession. We cut back, and have a very good balance right now. Our store is full to the brim, and we have maybe ten pieces in the warehouse that are either doubles of what is in the store or waiting for a space to open up on the floor.
Special orders are NOT improving on time for domestic items, no matter how hard everyone wishes or what they may say on their website. Everyone is fond of saying 6 months right now, the reality is that it's closer to 8 months for most and will even to go 10 months. One curiosity however is Hancock and Moore tufted is arriving in about 4 months. Turns out their tufting team is all caught up (they are specialized and don't work on regular items) so we are getting faster deliveries on tufted upholstery vs non-tufted. Motion furniture as a category still is the longest due to mechanism shortages.
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Re: No improvement in delivery times for ordered furniture
Thanks, that's what I figured, and makes sense. Build to order, or small batch pre-orders, is definitely a more economical, environmentally-friendly way to produce that I wish more industries did. You think there are any brands out there that may be decent pickups with the liquidations? La-Z-Boy?
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Re: No improvement in delivery times for ordered furniture
I can’t say, I don’t generally go into stores like La-z-Boy when not at work. Best to call them and ask.
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Re: No improvement in delivery times for ordered furniture
Fair enough. I forget which of the lower tier brands you tend to like and recommend, if any. I'm sure I've stumbled across a post or two here a while back. Thanks for your continued updates on the state of the market!
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Re: No improvement in delivery times for ordered furniture
I don't really have a recommendation for lower tier brands or items, sorry. At a certain point, pieces become utility-grade and are not designed for durability, comfort, strength or longevity. That's a segment we have never entered into for exactly those reasons. And I will tell you a story.....
Many years ago there was a man named Reny Barnes, and he had a four-store operation in metro DC with one of his stores located a half a mile from our location. The stores were named CL Barnes. Reny came into my store one day and looked around, picked up several price tags and then introduced himself (I knew who he was). He said "I've heard about your store and wanted to stop in, you have some really nice product in here, some of the best I've seen, but you have it all wrong."
I bristled slightly and said "How do you figure?". I'd only been doing this a few years - did I have something wrong?
Reny continued with "You sell high quality for low prices, you're not making good margins - I can see you are leaving money on the table. And, your products are going to last too long because they are well-made."
And I came back to him with "I've been in your store too, I see you sell low-end products for high prices - like Ashley Furniture. For what you charge, the quality is not very good and your clientele has to be calling you complaining about it after they have had the pieces a few months."
He said "Yes they do and we don't try to make them happy. Margins are higher on low-end furniture and that's what we take to the bank. I'm not looking for repeat business or customer loyalty. One and done is how we operate and it works fine for us. This is a big city, there are plenty of customers without needing repeat clients so customer satisfaction is not a priority with us."
Not knowing what else to say I responded with "How do you sleep at night?" And he said he slept just fine.
CL Barnes went out of business in the 2007-2008 Recession. Fifteen Years after they liquidated, The Keeping Room is still in business so I think mine is the better model, it has served us well over the decades.
Point being - if you go too low tier, then you will be replacing it. And even before you replace it, you likely will be unhappy with the way it sits / feels / functions. Try to find a good balance of budget vs use. It's a mistake to shop furniture on price alone - a big mistake. Learn what makes a decent piece, decide what YOU expect out of the furniture, and they make your purchase. I just ordered a group of Hooker Furniture for my own home, for two spare bedrooms that will see little or no use but we want to have something in there that is presentable. They will have MARQ bedding in the bedframes, not Royal-Pedic. Hooker is mid-level and both Sarah and my son Alex have it in their homes. It's not fine furniture, but neither is it junk. That's about the lower limit for what we will carry in our store. I always have one guiding principal - If I won't own it in my own home, why should I expect my customers to buy it?" And I look at every single line, and every single product with that in the back of my mind.
One more suggestion - if you live in a larger city, especially more affluent ones, there are massive bargains to be had on pre-owned high quality pieces. They go for pennies on the dollar and often its just because the owner is moving or has a change in style they want to explore. I would rather have a well-taken care of but used high quality piece than brand new low-end item.
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Re: No improvement in delivery times for ordered furniture
Amen, Brother Duane !! That post is spot on and goes for many an industry, not just furniture! Wouldn't buy a piece of furniture from anyone but you!!
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Re: No improvement in delivery times for ordered furniture
As you asked, how did he sleep at night? Wow. I've been a long time reader and refer back to your insight often. I only rent at the moment, but I enjoy the hunt and learning about quality products; whether it's clothes, shoes, furniture, cars. Eventually when I buy I'd like to find second-hand Hooker, H&M, etc.
You've certainly done it right; difficult to find great customer service nowadays. It's also been satisfying to see the push to shop local and buy American made.
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Re: No improvement in delivery times for ordered furniture
I think you should try to find balance in your home furnishings budget. Rooms and pieces that get rarely used, such as guest bedrooms, its fine to put lesser quality items in there. Or in living rooms (if your home has one) as they are used a couple times a year if that. Where you want to buy better quality are your everyday-use pieces. This can run opposite what some people think, but here's where I suggest you put the most money and buy the best quality
1. Kitchen Counter Stools - if you use them daily. They take a lot of wear and tear, but are frequently afterthought pieces. Buy good ones that are comfortable and sturdy.
2. Kitchen Table Chairs - Don't go cheap here. They get a lot of stress and inexpensive ones will begin to wobble in short order, its all about the joinery.
3. Your main sofa and chair (or recliner) where the TV is. Typically the Family Room. The ones you always use - buy quality here, it will last longer and be comfortable.
4. Your bedding in the Master Bedroom. For most people, they sleep in their own bed over 300 nights a year. A good mattress is the single more important piece of furnishings you will ever buy. It will help you get good rest, and not wake up full of aches from being too soft and unsupportive. Change the bedding when it begins to sag or pocket, don't try to get a few more years out of it. Bedding is not created equal, Good mattresses are expensive. You can get buy with less costly ones but they fail at a fast rate - so change them out more frequently.
Rule of thumb - any items you are putting stress on (sofa, chair, bedding) needs to be the best you can afford. Non-stress items like desks, dining tables, chests of drawers, nightstands, upholstered chairs in the bedroom, bookcases, etc, can be of lesser build to economize.
Another analogy.....
I have always been a home mechanic on my cars, motorcycles, trucks, etc. I have a huge toolbox in my garage loaded with tools. My primary tools are Snap-On brand, they are horribly expensive, but worth it because Snap-on Sockets never round off a fastener, their wrenches fit tight and can loosen nuts and bolts that lesser ones can't, without damage. A set of 3/8" sockets is about $ 250, and I have had mine for thirty years now. We have a Harbor Freight not too far away, and those are the cheapest tools you can buy - their socket set is $ 25 and will never be in my toolbox. But, I have some of their other tools as well - knowing its throw-away stuff, such as pry-bars, or picks, or a set of cheap screwdrivers when a neighbor asks if they can borrow a tool (Snap-On is never loaned out). I would never buy their Spring Compressors for doing struts, lest they break and the spring takes off my head - but i will buy their products when I know they are working on non-critical parts, such as a grinder or polisher for example, or an electrical extension cord. It's all about knowing what you want an item to do for you, and knowing the failure consequences before you make the buy.
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Re: No improvement in delivery times for ordered furniture
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Re: No improvement in delivery times for ordered furniture
Interesting article, and I'm not surprised. Sometimes it costs more to freight the cheap furniture than the buy price on it. Amazing.
I learned about quality back when I was 16 years old and avidly racing motorcycles. I didn't have much money (flipping burgers at McDonalds for $ 1.10 an hour) but I quickly discovered that cheap nuts and bolts sheared, inexpensive tools broke, low-priced shocks were over-spring and leaked, and tires made in China shredded. You can't win races when your machine falls apart. So I would work harder and take extra shifts to get overtime and afford the quality items I needed for my bikes. Even today, half a century later, you will find Snap-On tools in my toolbox, not Harbor Freight or Craftsman.
There are not many times that cheap pays off for people. Not even in things you throw away like garbage bags (they break on the way to the big can). or even cheap wine (devoid of flavor and body, good only for getting drunk). What's the # 1 item the 1-800-JUNK guys take to the dump? It's the Casper Bed-in-A-Box and a ton of those are sold. My own son bought one....garbage.
Buy a vinyl cover on a sofa (or car interior) and its made of plastic, and we know that sticks around FOREVER. Buy genuine leather and its 100% biodegradable. How about that?
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Re: No improvement in delivery times for ordered furniture
You are always going to have people who simply cannot afford high quality furniture that will last a decade or more. It isn't for everyone because it is simply out of reach for some. But I think the pandemic also created a huge additonal market for it. People who had never before worked from home or even had the option to, were suddenly faced with having to work from home with little or no advance notice. The option of waiting for 9 months for a desk or desk chair or file cabinet or other furniture that would make a home office environment "look" good on Zoom for meetings couldn't wait 9 months or a year. The stuff sky rocketed in price for even cheap stuff, which was cheap in construciton but no longer in price. Demand was crazy and people bought what they could get. Now I think you will see tons of this stuff being replaced or maybe just not used very much so it won't get much wear and tear, or it will end up at yard sales and land fills. But it was a rather unique time and I can see how a Hancock and Moore chair for the office gave way to "I need something to sit in while i am on a zoom call". Hopefully as makers get caught up people go back to furnishing the way they used to, more will be willing and able to wait for the quality pieces they want.
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Re: No improvement in delivery times for ordered furniture
You are correct, we were swamped with requests and sold off a lot of stock inventory quickly.
Now we are back to “when is there going to be a sale?” A lot of people don’t realize the backlogs are still 6 months or longer …. So the manufactures are not really looking to load up more backlog at lower margins.
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Re: No improvement in delivery times for ordered furniture
Here's a good article in the N.Y. Times about the newer "fast" (like fast food) furniture. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/31/r...sultPosition=2
"The mass-produced furniture that sold furiously during the pandemic could soon be clogging landfills."
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Re: No improvement in delivery times for ordered furniture
Delays in furniture delivery are like everything else these days and of course Covid plays a big role in this. I am in the food delivery business and I see it all the time in restaurants, from not having product in stock to delays in food delivery. Fortunately, waiting for furniture is not a major concern (such as food is) but still an inconvenience nonetheless.
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Re: No improvement in delivery times for ordered furniture
We just had a Taylor King order ship today to our store that was ordered on January 11th, 2022. That was ten months and a couple of days to complete. I think that is too long and we are adjusting accordingly to floor stock suppliers that can get product to us quicker. While we like everything about Taylor King, and they offer a good price/build value that is one of the best in the industry, they simply cannot get their build times down. Most customers don't want to wait that long, nor do I to fill a spot on the floor when one sells off the showroom. The average industry time right now is 6 months, some are getting them done in 5 months and that is more reasonable, though a far cry from pre-covid times of 6 to 8 weeks.
One of the reasons we are brining in Sherrill is they invested heavily in new production facilities and are promising 5 months delivery, with similar price/build to Taylor King and Hancock and Moore. We should have the first of our floor models soon and will see how their productions times are when they arrive.
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Re: No improvement in delivery times for ordered furniture
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/united-...le-they-slept/
United Furniture is facing a lawsuit from its employees after it fired 2,700 workers before Thanksgiving via email and text messages sent during the "middle of the night."
I wonder if something is changing in the furniture industry.
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Re: No improvement in delivery times for ordered furniture
Doubtful that is indicative of the furniture industry, that's more like one operator that is going bankrupt. The only time I have seen that middle of the night stuff is when they have run out of cash and the owners have left town.
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Re: No improvement in delivery times for ordered furniture
The workers may win their lawsuit, but is there any cash remaining to pay them anything?
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Re: No improvement in delivery times for ordered furniture
Quote:
Originally Posted by
reader2580
The workers may win their lawsuit, but is there any cash remaining to pay them anything?
Not sure why workers would win a lawsuit for being fired in mass. It is not like they were discriminated against for their race, sexual orientation, etc. Can you win a lawsuit because he fired them in the middle of the night because it was a "mean" thing to do? It sucks but there is no crying in baseball. Sounds to me like a lawyer is taking advantage of people when they are highly agitated.
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Re: No improvement in delivery times for ordered furniture
Quote:
Originally Posted by
prosdds
Not sure why workers would win a lawsuit for being fired in mass. It is not like they were discriminated against for their race, sexual orientation, etc. Can you win a lawsuit because he fired them in the middle of the night because it was a "mean" thing to do? It sucks but there is no crying in baseball. Sounds to me like a lawyer is taking advantage of people when they are highly agitated.
The Federal WARN act requires 60 day notice of mass layoffs. This is where the employees could win, but the company may claim they qualify for one of the exceptions to the 60 day notice.