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Thread: Just back from the High Point Market Fall 2011

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
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    Alexandria VA
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    15,889

    Default Just back from the High Point Market Fall 2011

    I'll post up photos later on on some specific pieces, most all will be Hancock and Moore, Taylor King, Councill and Jessica Charles.

    Comments:

    * There is so much crap at market. The same row after row after row of stuff from China and Indonesia that all looks alike and all is price point driven. Its crazy. I gave up going down every aisle after awhile because it was so repetitive.

    * Leathercraft had a miserable little booth. They proudly showed me their new power motion units and when I ran them back, noticed they hobby-horsed at the stop point. They said "Isn't that a great chair?" I replied, "No, its not. What's with all this flex and back and forth motion after the unit has stopped? You need some re-design in the mechanism or some way to dampen this. Its no good, who is going to pay thousands of dollars for this and have it do....THAT?" I was very disappointed by their showing and their booth. I think they have lost their way in sales/design/style.

    * JlTreharn, whom I have been a dealer with for nearly 26 years now, had some fantastic new pieces. They've really been hard at work with new designs in wood pieces and I bought out half the showroom. I'm excited to see what they did and get the new items in the store.

    Southwood Furniture. Ugh. I've been a dealer with them since 1988. Uninspiring pieces, colors, dowdy old showroom, obselete catalog and miserable web site. I didn't see a think I liked in there but the peanut butter cookies were pretty good. I'm going to drop the line and clear out my floor models at 20% off as soon as I get back in the store.

    Bradington Young. Some new high end leathers....FINALLY !! They will be coming out with a Grade 5 hide. They looked good. They're getting back into power reclining sofas again and for the first time ever they have actually made some that don't suck.

    Councill: They have some woods that are just stunning. Big ticket builder, but if you can afford it the pieces are real eye candy. I bought a pair of side tables on deal, but that was all that was in my inventory budget for them.

    Taylor King/Jessica Charles: Both really rolled out some nice new frames this market, and the big news is a fabric called Cryton, that everyone is showing this year. Stainproof Polyester, the next evolutionary step beyond microfibers. Everything - even black magic marker - comes off with just soap and water. I did order a Jessica Charles piece in it - I want to test that fabric when it lands.

    Hancock & Moore: I love going to H&M's showroom - it feels like home. Lots of new stuff, I'll post up photos over the next few days. Some of the new leathers are WAY - WAY out there, so not a whole lot of excitement on that front.

    Stay tuned for more!
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Rio Rancho, NM
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    28

    Default Re: Just back from the High Point Market Fall 2011

    Looking forward to photos

  3. #3
    Brenda O Guest

    Default Re: Just back from the High Point Market Fall 2011

    Is Classic Leather a vendor you work with/think quality?

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
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    Alexandria VA
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    15,889

    Default Re: Just back from the High Point Market Fall 2011

    I don't carry Classic Leather, but they make a decent product. Quite frankly, the people that made Classic Leather what it was back in the 70's and early 80's are the ones that own Hancock and Moore, now. Classic sort of lost its steam after they went to form H&M, and they don't have the dynamics or verve that H&M does, but their product is just fine.
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  5. #5
    speakeasy Guest

    Default Re: Just back from the High Point Market Fall 2011

    I looked at Classic Leather before I found this forum and am confused. On one website (http://www.classic-leather.com/Pages...ionmethods.htm) they claim two levels of build quality. Their Quick Ship Collection which uses entirely hardwood frames, and their Madison Collection which uses plywood. On another website (http://http://www.classic-leather.com/construction-methods.html) it appears all their frames are now plywood. Does anyone know if this is correct?

    I stumbled across a small family owned middle high-high leather furniture manufacturer out of Claremont, North Carolina named Mckinley Leather Furniture. (http://www.mckinleyleatherfurniture.com/). Does anyone have any knowledge of them?

    I am truly sorry to hear about Leathercraft's poor presentation and product.

  6. #6
    Join Date
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    Default Re: Just back from the High Point Market Fall 2011

    I saw the McKinley Leather booth at Market, and spent about 30 seconds in there. Nothing interested me, but then again I'm spoiled by the lines I carry. There is so much mediocre product at the Market, that only the truly well made catches my eye. I've no idea on current Classic construction, sorry.
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  7. #7
    speakeasy Guest

    Default Re: Just back from the High Point Market Fall 2011

    Hi Duane,

    and the big news is a fabric called Cryton, that everyone is showing this year. Stainproof Polyester, the next evolutionary step beyond microfibers. Everything - even black magic marker - comes off with just soap and water.

    Is that new fabric perhaps Crypton? http://www.cryptonathome.com/

  8. #8
    Join Date
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    Alexandria VA
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    15,889

    Default Re: Just back from the High Point Market Fall 2011

    That's the one. I ordered a Jessica Charles sleeper loveseat in that, and we'll see how it does. This fabric has been in commercial use for years, but it was too stiff and scratchy for residential use. This past year, they FINALLY got it so that its acceptable and it feels like a soft polyester. This is the next step beyond a microfiber, and every maker was showing it. I'll have a photo of it posted shortly as featured on the JC sleeper. The makers were genuinely impressed with the material and of course I'm skeptical, so maybe I'll get a piece send up to me and I'll torture test it in a video and post it here. See if it can stand up to what I will put on it...lol
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  9. #9
    Join Date
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    Default Re: Just back from the High Point Market Fall 2011

    Its been a week since I was at Market, and when i was there I went into the Shifman bedding display. I used to be a Shifman dealer about 15 years ago, and they build a very nice product. I wasn't 'big enough' for them back then and they dropped me as a dealer after about 5 years. When I went into their showroom again this market - they scoffed at the fact that my store is "only 5,000 s.f" and that I couldn't possibly do their line justice in selling it,nor could I probably meet their advertising requirements. Such Arrogance!! Guess they never heard that old saying "Mighty Oaks from Little Acorns grow." I wasn't really all that interested in re-activating a dealership with them anyways, Royal Pedic build an equally nice bed that's very similar and does so appreciating every sale, no matter how big or how little the store. I was going to launch into my speech about how all the big furniture stores are going out of business and how many of the little guys have survived - but I figured, 'why bother?' Still... i find it irritating that I was deemed too puny for their magnificent line up of beds? I wonder if they know that I sell more Hancock and Moore than their 'biggest' store in the Washington DC area? Should I tell them that? Nawwwwwww..........
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  10. #10
    MJM_CA Guest

    Default Re: Just back from the High Point Market Fall 2011

    Speakeasy,

    I was considering a Classic-Leather sectional before I came across Duane's forum and Hancock & Moore.
    The website link you posted looks older (copyright 2007). They've updated their website:
    http://www.classic-leather.com/const...n-methods.html

    Looks like the same construction methods, but they don't talk about frame differences in the quick-ship stock.

    Duane quoted a price similar to the Classic Leather for a Hancock and Moore sectional. I was more comfortable with Duane's and H&M's level of service. I asked a vendor if Classic Leather replaces cushion cores free of charge to the original owner like H&M, and he just pointed to their regular warranty. Needless to say, I went with the H&M product and I'm very pleased.

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