Hello and Question

[Leslie]

Hello Duane~

My name is Leslie and I live in a small town on North Alabama. I think I could be called "furniture stupid" but this forum is helping to correct that. I have made many furniture errors in my 30 years of marriage but hopefully I won't do that anymore! I am currently looking for several pieces, a credenza/dresser type piece for my bedroom that will hold a 40" flat screen TV and a drawer chest, possibly painted, for my family room.

Here is my (stupid) question: What exactly do you mean by "price point?" I bought--and sent back--some good looking but poorly made furniture from a local furniture store and when discussing the poor quality with the sales clerk she kept saying that it was a "price point" but the way she used this term didn't make sense to me.

Another question: Several years ago I bought a Hancock and Moore leather recliner which has not been used much. Recently I noticed that the leather has worn away off the piping on the chair cushion. Can this be repaired?

Thanks!
Leslie

[drcollie]

Hi Leslie,

"Price Point" means the manufacturer built it to a price target, sort of backwards engineering if you will. Lets say a maker wants to build a chest to a retail price point of $ 999.00. They determine that retail price first - then add in the dealer margins / shipping and then the maker has to figure out how to build this piece for that pre-determined price - which typically may be $ 500 out the factory door. In order to get it to $ 500, and they have to either cut labor or material or come up with new construction methods. I am often asked by my supplier what price point to target as a retail for a build concept they have as dealers have a better idea of what price a piece will bear moreso then manufacturers. Sometimes you can hit a price point and make a really nice product, other times its just too much cutting and you can't get the build you need to cover that specific retail target price. Once in a great while you can innovate and really come in with some new way of doing something and make that price point without a quality - durability hit as well. And sometimes a producer will just take the margin hit and roll out a price point item just as an experiment to see if they can get a volume increase (Taylor King's new American-made promotion would be an example of this).

Yes, you can easily get a repair on the welt trim. Most likely H&M can simply touch it up, if not they can install new welt on a cover at a nominal charge. They are virtually the only company I know of that will do this sort of thing in the upholstered furniture business.

[Leslie]

Thanks Duane! That is about what I figured it meant but wanted to be sure.

This is a great forum!

Leslie

[simplyjeff]

Yes, you can easily get a repair on the welt trim. Most likely H&M can simply touch it up, if not they can install new welt on a cover at a nominal charge. They are virtually the only company I know of that will do this sort of thing in the upholstered furniture business.

Hey Duane,

There is another company that repairs or replaces cushions at no charge - Simplicity Sofas. Back in the old days (3-4 years ago when we first opened) we used polyurethane cushions with a fiber wrapping, which was standard for our "price points" (there's that phrase again.) Those cushions had a 1 year warranty and we learned eventually that they had about a 3 year lifetime before they started losing their shape and resilience. Every customer that came to us complaining about their cushions received new cushions at no charge. Having learned our lesson, over the past 2 1/2 years we have offered only premium cushions that we can warranty for life. There are only 2 choices, an 8" thick Ultracel foam with a dacron polyester wrapping and a super premium Spring-down cushion (the real thing with a Marshall coil unit, not a cheap imitation.)

I also wanted to share some exciting news. (At least its exciting to me.) In a recently published interview with Jeanne Bliss, founder and co-director of the CXPA (Customer Experience Professionals Association) and author of the business best-seller "I Love You More Than My Dog": Five Decisions That Drive Extreme Customer Loyalty in Good Times and Bad. the interviewer, Ivana Taylor asked:

Do you have any examples of a small business who adopted the principles you discuss in your book?

Jeanne's response was: One of the great adopters of these five decisions is a beloved small business called Simplicity Sofas. The owner Jeff Frank is a zealot about how he will and will not guide his company toward growth – and they are adopting every one of the five decisions. In a depressed marketplace (especially for the furniture industry) their results are astounding.


Disclaimer -- Simplicity Sofas makes custom-built RTA (Ready to Assemble) sofas, sleepers and sectionals specifically designed for small spaces and narrow entranceways. The retail "price points" (there's that phrase again) range from $999 - $1499 for sofas and $2500 - $4000 for sectionals. We do not compete in any way with any of the lines that Duane carries -- but all of our furniture will fit through a 15" wide door and I defy anyone to do that with an H&M sofa.

Jeff Frank
Simplicity Sofas