Fjord's Muldal Recliner & Foot Stool in AL Vintage Cognac

In Mahogany wood finish on the frame. Quite frankly, I am surprised at how many Fjord's units we sell, I originally brought them into the store as a novelty, expecting to sell four or five units a year. They are incredibly simple recliners to operate, we have never had a single issue with any of them and they are half the price of the more well-known Stressless brand. They are stocked in New Jersey so they ship quickly and we can send out 48 state. This combo in the most desirable leather and wood finish is priced at $ 1,499 in the store and is frequently sold out.

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Duane, I didn't realize you are now carrying Fjords. I visited their High Point showroom last October and was pleasantly surprised by the quality. I had written an article in July 2021, in which I had named Ekornes Stressless as the best quality reclining furniture available. This past October I received a question from a reader, pointing out several poor reviews of Stressless products and asking whether Stressless quality has been slipping.

In response to her question, I did some research and discovered (in an article in a Hong Kong publication) that Ekornes (and Stressless) had been sold to a Chinese manufacturer in 2018. That Chinese manufacturer brought out a bunch of new powered models, which were being manufactured in Thailand. Apparently, the new powered models are not up to the quality standards that of the older Norwegian made manual Stressless recliners. Stressless also has a U.S. factory in Morganton, NC. I'm not sure which models are being made there or whether they are having quality problems.

I still like the Stressless manual recliners (and am sitting on a 30 year old Stressless recliner as I'm writing this.)

All of this information is in my article, Update to Stressless Review Since Ekornes was a Norwegian company being sold to a Chinese company, the change in ownership and manufacturing location was never reported in the U.S. furniture trade publications.

In my blog article, 18 Best Reclining Sofa Brands Made in America, I now have Stressless rated #6. Hancock & Moore replaced them in the #1 slot.

Yes, I originally was going for a Stressless dealership because several customers were asking about it and it was available to the store. However, they wanted a $ 20,000 opening order which would take 1/4 of the available store space so I held off for a bit. Then I decided to go for it. The Sales Rep came in and said "Oh, by the way, there is a monthly fee to be listed as a dealer on our website, PLUS you have to spend at least $ 2,200 a quarter advertising out brand and if you don't we will do it for you and bill you". There there were price controls and selling out of area restritictions. That was over the top for me - so I declined. Found Fjord's instead and they said "Sure, order whatever you like, no minimums, no requirements".

I don't think Stressless quality is slipping but that's pretty common to run into the "they don't build them like they used to" which we hear from consumers about most every maker. I have looked at cutaways of their product and bare frames, there isn't very much there to slip. They (and Fjord's) are VERY simple builds that are simply bonded foam over a steel frame in their old school, basic units. There is not much to fail in the chairs they build, which is a good thing.

I did not see anything in the trade news about Stressless being sold to a Chinese Company, but it doesn't really surprise me.