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Thread: Leather sofa brands

  1. #1
    elmoisfat Guest

    Default Leather sofa brands

    Hi guys, first post here

    I live in Vancouver, Canada, and came across this forum by chance. Lots of great and helpful information here.

    I understand that many people here are happy with their H&M purchases, but due to my current location, I don't have access to a large number of dealers/retailers carrying the H&M brand; in fact, only Jordan's Interior sells a few selected models that do not appeal to me at all. The price they ask for (close to 10K after tax for one sofa and one loverseat) is also way beyond my budget ($6000). I've thought about buying online, yet without actually trying out the sofas myself to see whether or not the cushions are firm and supportive enough to suit my comfort need, it's very hard to make the right choice.

    Because I'm extremely inexperienced when it comes to brands of sofas that are considered "okay" or "decent", I think it's best I ask you experts here for some suggestions. Besides H&M, Leathercraft, and B&Y, which have very limited number of dealers in Canada, is there any other brands I could and should look for?

    Some of the ones I've already looked at include: Lane, La-Z-Boy, Natuzzi, Stylus, Ashley Furniture, Ethan Allen, and Campio Furniture. These are sold widely across many dealers in Vancouver. The designs are fairly appealing, but because of the horror stories associated with Natuzzi Edition, and La-Z-Boy, as told by members in this forum and other online sites, I don't want to tread on dangerous waters and spend my hard earned money on junks.

    Some of the sales associates told me that many sofa builders are outsourcing their stuff to China for assembly and processing, which I don't think can be avoided unless I buy H&M, but if say the hardwood-frame (kiln treated) was made-in-Canada, should I favor these over the ones imported from China or South Africa? While I don't like Chinese made sofas, I'm equally skeptical about the Canadian sofa manufacturers, as there is close to no comments or reviews on their build quality.

    Sorry for the long-winded thread, I appreciate any thoughts and suggestions. Thanks in advance!
    Last edited by elmoisfat; 12-19-2010 at 11:02 PM.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Alexandria VA
    Posts
    15,890

    Default Re: Leather sofa brands

    Lane, La-Z-Boy, Natuzzi, Stylus, Ashley Furniture, Ethan Allen, and Campio Furniture.

    Nothing good in that group! That's your basic inexpensive made-in-China furniture. I don't really know what's available in the Vancouver area, some upholstery makers tend to be regional in nature. Sorry.

    I do have customers in Canada however, and use DeJong trucking to deliver your way. Customs/GST/Brokerage fees all come into play but you can get into some high quality Hancock & Moore if you stay in the Town and Country collection (sofa/loveseat) and hit your target budget including all the freight and cross the border stuff. H&M doesn't cost $ 10K for a sofa / loveseat if you shop it around a little.

    The H&M Town and Country promo is all listed here on the LEATHER forum. Good luck!
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  3. #3
    elmoisfat Guest

    Default Re: Leather sofa brands

    Thanks a lot for your suggestions, Duane. It's too bad all of the brands listed are made in China.

    I appreciate your kind offer on H&M sofas, frankly I'm a bit concerned about the comfort level of each sofa model. I have no doubt about H&M's built quality, but without trying out the sofas myself, it's kind of difficult to tell just by looking at the images which sofa suits me best. I'm not very tall and have back problems, some of the sofas I tried out at my local dealers have such a steep depth, I can hardly sit on them properly with my back resting on the back cushion and feet on the ground.

    Do you have any customers in Canada purchasing sofas from the west coast? I'm very glad to hear that the price for sofas + shipping/duty all included fits my budget range, but after checking out De Jong, it seems they are more or less operating on the east coast, which makes me wonder how much extra I'd have to pay to get them to ship all the way from VA to British Columbia.

  4. #4
    samuelsfurn Guest

    Default Re: Leather sofa brands

    Locating quality furniture can be tough. Have you shopped any American cities or towns close to Vancouver? Specifically I know of a company in Ferndale, Washington, Samuel's Furniture. I only know of them because their name is similar to my store's name (Samuels Furniture, without the apostrophe; of course they are in Washington state and we are in Tennessee...). Just by browsing their website, I see that they carry Bradington-Young and American Leather. I can't vouch for them as a retailer, but I have spoken to their owner on the phone on a couple occasions when we receive invoices meant for them and vice versa (yikes). Good luck in your search.

    Jacob Samuels

    Samuels Furniture & Interiors

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Alexandria VA
    Posts
    15,890

    Default Re: Leather sofa brands

    Its always a 'leap of faith' in buying something without trying it out first, especially as to comfort levels.

    One of the reasons I like to sell Hancock and Moore long distance is they consistently offer a product that meets the comfort expectations of customers who buy from a photograph. If I were to assign a percentage value to it, I'd say 95 % are happy with the feel when it arrives. The only other line I carry that meets that kind of satisfaction level is Jessica Charles (H&M's sister company). When H&M y designs new pieces, they focus on comfort as a primary factor, hence the high satisfaction level. Rarely do I come across one of their pieces that I don't care for the way it sits. There's a few, but not many (out of 1,400 frames).

    Other lines I carry such as Bradington Young, Taylor King, Leathercraft and Southwood would be more along the 75% - 80 % rating. There are some frames they carry that look better in the photos than they actually sit. One that comes to mind off-hand is the Brad-Young Motion Dual Reclining sofa # 965 series. Any customer that wants to order one of these I will always advise them to try one out before purchase, because I personally don't care for the way they sit.

    I did an order for a customer via De Jong shipping into Calgary, Alberta this past summer of several H&M pieces. They were timely, and offered blanket wrap service all the way to inside the home. We had a Austin sofa, two Austin chairs an Austin ottoman and the De Jong charge including all duties and customs GST was $ 1,290 on a $ 5,568 order. I was told by that customer that she was quoted nearly $ 10,000 for her pieces (to the best of my recollection) from the dealer in Calgary,so it worked out well for her to order that way, and it all arrived damage-free. One thing you must keep in mind if doing a long distance buy like this is to get EVERYTHING in one order. She was on the fence about ordering two ottomans and decided the second ottoman was needed a month after receiving her order. To ship a single ottoman to Calagary was brutal, and the cost to do so via UPS Oversize 3, when combined with the GST and duties was almost the price of the ottoman itself when a piece like that ships by itself. You don't want to do that.
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  6. #6
    elmoisfat Guest

    Default Re: Leather sofa brands

    Jacob: Thanks a lot for your suggestions! I'm planning to head down to Seattle during boxing week (the border's probably gonna be hectic), definitely gonna drop by this store on the way to take a look at their B-Y selections

    Duane: That's reassuring! I'll take a look at H&M catalog and PM you for prices on the ones I found attractive later. While I was trying out those sofas by Lane and Natuzzi at the local dealers in Vancouver, all those that looked nice and comfy aren't comfortable at all, the cushions are either too soft, or too thin. Now that Christmas is near, some of these stores are starting to cut their prices by 50% or more, which makes me wonder exactly how much commission and other fees were included when they advertise these to their customers. I'm sure they can still make some profits even when they set their price margin this low.

    $1300 for shipping + duty sound pretty reasonable. After all, buying from my local shop costs 12% HST, which when applied on a big ticket item like sofas, will be close to $600-$800 dollars. BC used to have PST and GST separately, but they combined the two together this year. I need to verify with the border on whether or not imported goods also have 12% tax applied on them. Due to an outcry from the angered BC residents on this HST stuff, the government recently announced that they're going back to the GST/PST system early next year, I might wait it out a bit if that's the case. Saving 7% PST will probably save me a bit of money on tax and give me a little bit more room when selecting the sofa models.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Alexandria VA
    Posts
    15,890

    Default Re: Leather sofa brands

    All that customs and duties in Canada is quite confusing! And I know it seems to be in a constant state of change as well. I don't ship enough into Canada to be well-versed in it, and let companies like De Jong take care of the brokerage and collection work, and just tell you what its going to cost. Calling them is probably the best bet, they deal with it on a daily basis.
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  8. #8
    awelch Guest

    Default Re: Leather sofa brands

    Have you looked into Legacy Leather's products? They are based out of Ontario. We have carried their line in the past and considering the price point, have been pleased with the quality.

    Amanda
    High Country Furniture

  9. #9

    Smile Re: Leather sofa brands

    In Seattle, go to Masins Furniture. They also have a store in Bellevue. They have A LOT of Hancock and Moore products on display. They also have access to the Seattle Design Center (for the trade only) where the Baker showroom also has some Hancock and Moore pieces. I saw a H&M Campaign sofa there about a week ago that is just gorgeous in Quintessence leather. We have several H&M pieces - they are the best and most comfortable furniture we have ever owned.

  10. #10
    furnfixer Guest

    Default Re: Leather sofa brands

    I can't vouch for the [complete] validity or source of this "well known" rating, but here it is:
    http://www.curriersleather.com/manufacturers_rank.php


    Duane, or others, are you aware of any similar ratings for manufacturers of fabric upholstery or casegoods?

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