Re: Viewpoint Leather Works
First off, in reply to Steve and Fearless Leader whatever his name is, we have a Viewpoint Leather Works couch and loveseat and have had it for close to 16 years and its still in superior condition and shows no signs of wear and tear and they have been through teenagers, dogs and numerous moves, messes and spills. We both believe, the older these pieces get, the better they look. SO, if they are just trying to sell their own furniture by posting negative comments about the Viewpoint Leather Works brand, they are posting false information. Also, Viewpoint Leather Works is out of Salt Lake City, UT, which last time we checked, was still in the U.S.A.!!! Nice try Fearless Leader and Steve!!!
Re: Viewpoint Leather Works
As indicated above, the website is now just a parked page. The Utah company is defunct as of 2010. It may be a familiar story of a defunct U.S. brand being picked up by a Chinese company or importer that wants to trade on the former owner's reputation. But as with many furniture lines, if in fact this piece was manufactured after the apparent demise of the Utah company, it would appear that the "Viewpoint" you dealt with in the 1990's was a very different company with a very different product.
If you take the time to read the forum, you will find that Duane is interested in quality furniture, and trades on honest information. And if you go to a typical furniture store these days, unfortunately you will see a lot of low quality furniture from China, no small amount of it sold under the brands of companies that have reduced or eliminated their domestic production. There are many importers with U.S. addresses that do no domestic production.
Re: Viewpoint Leather Works
Quote:
Originally Posted by
PJFrahm
First off, in reply to Steve and Fearless Leader whatever his name is, we have a Viewpoint Leather Works couch and loveseat and have had it for close to 16 years and its still in superior condition and shows no signs of wear and tear and they have been through teenagers, dogs and numerous moves, messes and spills. We both believe, the older these pieces get, the better they look. SO, if they are just trying to sell their own furniture by posting negative comments about the Viewpoint Leather Works brand, they are posting false information. Also, Viewpoint Leather Works is out of Salt Lake City, UT, which last time we checked, was still in the U.S.A.!!! Nice try Fearless Leader and Steve!!!
I love the newbies that show up and show their stupidity in their very first post. Proof that the clueless are indeed among us.
You will find as owner of the forum, I don't suffer fools for long - nor does Aaron, the other Admin. Mind your manners and have a little respect for the people that work hard to answer questions freely and honestly or you will be sleeping with the digital fishes.
Re: Viewpoint Leather Works
Quote:
Originally Posted by
aaron
The
Utah company is defunct as of 2010. It may be a familiar story of a defunct U.S. brand being picked up by a Chinese company or importer that wants to trade on the former owner's reputation.
I believe Viewpoint is still around, they just changed their name to "USA Premium Leather".
Re: Viewpoint Leather Works
We bought a bedroom set for our daughter about 11 years ago, from a US company that manufactured in the US. It was great quality and we were very pleased.
When our son needed a bed about 6 years ago, we bought the same brand, assuming it would be the same quality. We were so wrong, and very disappointed in the quality. We subsequently found that the bed was made in China.
Just because a brand was great 10 or 20 years ago, doesn't mean it's great today. As we learned the hard way, you need to research what you buy (especially with large purchases). Knowledge is power!!
PJFrahm, try doing a little research before you disparage Duane and others. Otherwise, you just wind up looking ignorant.
Re: Viewpoint Leather Works
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Matthew
I believe Viewpoint is still around, they just changed their name to "USA Premium Leather".
New company, same address? Whatever the continuity may be in terms of management, ownership, property line (and I know nothing about any continuity as it's not part of the free listing on the Utah corporate listings website), there's usually considerably more going on than a change of name when the corporate entity changes as well. Most often it's a change of ownership. Sometimes it's somebody picking up the remnants of a bankruptcy or out-of-business company.
Re: Viewpoint Leather Works
I'll never understand why some people personally identify with inanimate objects like furniture, so that if someone else doesn't particularly care for their chosen brand of furniture they are insulted. Really? The point, it seems to me, was that furniture made today by this company is not the same quality as furniture made by that same company 16 years ago. Why in the world would someone take that as a personal insult?
Re: Viewpoint Leather Works
Quote:
Originally Posted by
aaron
New company, same address? Whatever the continuity may be in terms of management, ownership, property line (and I know nothing about any continuity as it's not part of the free listing on the Utah corporate listings website), there's usually considerably more going on than a change of name when the corporate entity changes as well. Most often it's a change of ownership. Sometimes it's somebody picking up the remnants of a bankruptcy or out-of-business company.
Ownership was the same at the time of the switch. Now (or, at least as of 2010 when the owner died) the son of the original owner is running the company: http://www.furnituretoday.com/articl...dies_at_77.php
I don't know the reasons for the name change, nor do I do what else changed at that time (their build quality certainly may have changed). My main point was that they appear to still be a USA manufacturer. I don't know much about them aside from what I've seen in furniture stores around here, but quality seems "ok" (seems to be hardwood frames but with screwed corner blocks instead of doweled and drop-in 8-way units) based off what the sales rep understood (basically, take it for what it's worth).
Re: Viewpoint Leather Works
There may have been an advantage to the heirs through inheriting the assets of the corporation and starting a "new" business, as opposed to inheriting the existing corporation.
I don't know why they make this so hard to find - if it were my site it would be front-and-center - but on the "About Us" age they state, "Note: that all USA Premium Leather Furniture products are made in North Carolina or Utah."
Re: Viewpoint Leather Works
I happened to see a couple of the USA Premium sofas today. I wasn't terribly impressed with some of the leathers (some were too shiny for my taste, others were decent, though still nothing overly impressive) and the tailoring paled in comparison to something from Hancock and Moore. That said, for their price point I was pretty impressed. It is American made and seemed to be pretty solidly built (based off their promo material, they have 5/4" Oak Frames, 8-way hand tied, spring down seats). It isn't going to win any awards, but for someone in the market for a sub-$2000 sofa (they wanted about $1800 for one I saw), you could certainly do a lot worse.
Re: Viewpoint Leather Works
Oak Frames of 5/4 ? I'd be very surprised if any maker was using that because that's very expensive lumber. That's about 3x the price of maple, which is what the best builders generally use. And 5/4 stock (1.25" thick) is considerably more than industry standard 4/4 (1" thick stock). Then in leather - then with 8-way hand-tied - then with spring down cores? All that for $ 1,800 to the end user? Either that's the Deal of the Century for a leather sofa or its time to get a video camera for a You Tube moment and open one up with a utility knife and a Sawzall. I think what we would find inside would be less than the sum of its advertising.
Re: Viewpoint Leather Works
Quote:
Originally Posted by
drcollie
Oak Frames of 5/4 ? I'd be very surprised if any maker was using that because that's very expensive lumber. That's about 3x the price of maple, which is what the best builders generally use. And 5/4 stock (1.25" thick) is considerably more than industry standard 4/4 (1" thick stock). Then in leather - then with 8-way hand-tied - then with spring down cores? All that for $ 1,800 to the end user? Either that's the Deal of the Century for a leather sofa or its time to get a video camera for a You Tube moment and open one up with a utility knife and a Sawzall. I think what we would find inside would be less than the sum of its advertising.
I'm pretty sure the store would have disapproved of me ripping the sofa apart so all I had to go on was pushing/prodding the frame and viewing their promotional materials. As for the 8-way, I've always heard the USA Premium used drop in units, but the dealer was insistent that it wasn't and they had one of those little cut-out displays that didn't seem to be a drop-in unit.
No one is comparing it to Hancock and Moore, but not everyone can afford to shop in the upper range of furniture. The point was, if you're willing to accept certain compromises there are still some decent, American-made buys in that next price point.
BTW, what am I missing about oak vs maple pricing? I had some bedroom furniture made about a year ago and they quoted me the exact price for it to be made in oak as they did in maple. Also, when I did a quick search for lumber pricing this is the first result I got: http://hardwoodstore.com/lumber-prices That shows oak and maple priced roughly the same (certainly not 3x the price).
