Hancock & Moore vs. Bradington Young

I am often asked "Is the extra cost of Hancock & Moore worth it over Bradington-Young?"

There is no right answer to that. I sell both lines, and if I didn't believe the product wasn't decent, then I wouldn't carry them. Both have an outstanding record of longevity and durability, but yes - there are differences that don't really have a huge effect of how the piece will stand the test of time. As I have said many times, there is no rocket science in this industry, this is a business of labor and material, and the combination of the two. If you want to build the best product in the trade (Hancock & Moore) then your standards are exacting and that reflects in the prices paid. If you don't want to compete with a company such as H&M head-to-head, and want to position yourself at 20 % to 30% lower in the price points in the market, then you have to either reduce your labor or material cost. It's actually just as simple as that. Some of the differences you can't see, such as the frame construction. H&M builds of solid maple, Bradington Young of high grade plywood. That's a big difference right there in material/construction costs, but the plywood is not going to fail, it will just flex more over the solid maple frame.

Here's a few visuals as well.

Note that on the first series of photos of the arm on both a BY Tappan Sofa and a H&M LaCross, you will see a Welt Trim closing the panels, then a row of nails as decoration. On the BY, the welt trim is eliminated and its a nail trim closure only over the stitching that holds the panels together. This saves a considerable amount of time and leather as welts may seem simple and inconsequential, but they are not. They use up a lot of hide to make and require extensive sewing operations. There is a lot of money to be saved by eliminating the welt trim, but that also means that BY will not do a nail delete on this piece without charging you to make a welt closure.

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Now onto the back of the same two sofas. Here you will see the welt trim (again) but notice how the corner edge on the H&M is stitched and seamed, whereas the BY is merely tucked and folded. You have a defined corner on the H&M piece that shows the art of furniture making whereas the BY is a simple fold operation. Again, time and labor to do it the H&M way.

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Will either of the above effect how the piece sits or how long it lasts? No, it will not. But there are probably a hundred small differences between the products and I've just shown you two. It all adds up to reducing that cost by 20 to 30% overall.

I have both BY and H&M. There is no contest between the two. I enjoy our BY recliners and they are good looking (Bastien), but I much prefer the H&M. I had H&M recliners in the big wing look (can't remember name). They were huge, too big for the room and they were fabric which was as almost as tough as my leather. So, I went to BY because the money was flying out the door too soon, less than three years.

I'm in the market for a couple of recliners. Looking at h&m Saunders, BY Cambridge, restoration hardware Churchill and united leather Waller. Please give all possible input. Thanks John

I have an H&M Saunders and love it. Only complaint about these chairs are the angle of your head being too far back when reclined for TV viewing...I need to prop my head up with a pillow. This is mostly due to the curved design on these chairs. But I love the looks of them.

H&M will give you the most leather/finish options - and will be priced highest. Quality made in USA.
I think the H&M Saunders looks more like the BY Bastien versus the Cambridge (which is more rustic looking). The BY is a good alternative if H&M is too pricey. Also quality made in USA.

The RH products IMO are overpriced for what you get (They have to pay for all those expensive catalogs some how). Chinese product with limited options.

Not familiar with United Leather Waller.

NOTE: I got my H&M Saunders from Duane about 1 year ago in a Grade 2 leather for about the same price as the RH Churchill recliner...

RH also has a lot of mis-information on their product descriptions I find. I was looking at the RH Churchill recliner description and it says it's 8-way hand tied. I've learned on this site that no recliner can be 8-way hand tied in the seat due to the reclining mechanism.