Where in the country can I go to see and sit on the most BY and HM leather sofas?

[crayolabarb]

Hi Duane, I'm not kidding. Don't BY and/or HM (the 2 manufacturers I think I am seriously considering, mostly thanks to your wonderful forum) have a sort of "home show room" close to where they make the sofas?
I will fly there and get a hotel room and not come home until I have made my decision if such a place exists.

I have looked here in the Boston area for 3 yrs. I was teaching and so it was sporadic, but just retired and seriously need new living rm. furniture to now enjoy my (deep breath) well earned time to relax.

I am going nuts driving to stores who only have one or two models on the floor. I understand you cannot have them all. I will even likely purchase from a local store once I decide which sofa and recliners "fit" for my family members and me. I just need to see and sit on them.

From the models I have been able to sit on- I find the BY to be more consistently "comfortable", for some reason, than the HM. Right now the BY "#660-95 (Dietrich) and #764-95 (Dillion) seem to have the look and dimensions I want- but I have not found a store yet in New England that has them.

Any suggestions?

Thanks so much. Your forum is great!

[wisejd]

crayolabarb, You may have just missed Duane for a week as he is taking a well-deserved vacation. My wife and I also found BY and H&M somewhat difficult to see and try their products that we were interested in due to relatively fewer dealers and in particular the number of models actually in those dealer showrooms. I think April in North Carolina would be your perfect get-away. I don't know when the annual furniture mart occurs, but I expect it is around now. I understand that would be the best opportunity to actually sit-on the pieces that you may be interested in purchasing. The other place that I would think you could have great opportunity would be Chicago. In any event, regarding your comment about BY vs. H&M comfort I don't know that you should put a lot of faith in your findings thus far. The reason I say that is our experience is that "Brand New" leather Sofas and Recliners for example feel quite different than they well just a few weeks after going into regular use. We found that generally H&M is a cut above similar pieces in BY. We also found that H&M offered some style and design elements that set them apart from most manufacturers offerings. My final comment has to do with where you ultimately buy your selection. We found that you don't need to worry about buying it half a Country away from your home as the shipping cost is offset by Tax savings. Any furniture piece is going to have the shipping cost bundled in the price if you buy locally anyway. Duane offers great service and prices so if you knew specifically what you wanted he could get it as quickly as anyone. On the other-hand, if you do luck into a location that has exactly what you want on the showroom floor then you can just buy it and the shipping will be arranged such that you well receive your selection within a very few weeks.

[vbnet]

Hi, I live in Chicago and I'm thinking you are better off finding some place in North Carolina or visiting Duane's store, the Keeping Room. I'm helping my son who lives in St. Louis choose furniture and it has been a challenge to say the least. The Chicago Merchandise Mart does not have BY OR H&M, so no showroom there. I've found 2 stores that carry the brands. One in Lincolnshire has had several H&M sofas but only has has 2 right now and maybe 1 BY. At their Wheaton location they have 4 H&M no BY, Skokie 1 H&M. These suburbs are 25 - 40 mins away depending on traffic. It was the same story in St. Louis. One store has 2 BY, another store had 1 or 2 H&M - all not the models we were interested in.

From what I gather reading the forum, the best way to perhaps sit in a bunch of H&M & BY might be to go to the Keeping Room. Another option might be to go do the H&M tour, I think they let you sit on a bunch of pieces that are in various stages of development? Correct me someone if I'm wrong. Then find a store in NC that has BY in stock on the floor. Duanes is going to be having a BY sale last 2 weeks of May so you might want to try to do research before then.

Hope you can find someone to try things out.

[Peaches]

We had the same problem where we live last year but found the Hickory (NC) Furniture Mart had a lot of HM sofas on their showroom floor. Found exactly what we wanted and then ordered from Duane. Don't know if they carry BY or not. You might give Hickory a call. And while you're there you could go on down to High Point where there is so much furniture after investigating who carries HM and BY.

[Marjflowers]

I just had the same problem. I'm interested in one specific H&M recliner, and I wanted to sit in it before committing so much money. I tried every dealer in Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, and Ohio, as well as dealers in St. Louis, Atlanta, Chicago, Washington, and Des Moines. Duane recommended visiting the factory, and I made my travel plans in February. As it happened, I planned my trip for the same week that they got something like 10 inches of snow,sno I had to cancel.

In the course of calling to cancel my trip, I found out that the chair I want isn't always available to be seen at the factory. I stewed for about a month and finally decided to buy the chair sight unseen. I had the phone I'm my hand to call Duane to begin the ordering process when I decided to call H&M to see if they might have the model I want available. They were able to tell me that one was being made, and I would have exactly one day (11/2 weeks later) that I could see it before it went to the warehouse. So I made my travel plans lickety-split!

The recliner was PERFECT for me, and so I guess I could have saved my money the trip cost. But I am so, so glad I didn't! Jimmy Moore gave me a tour, and it was a delightful day. I feel even better about buying H&M after the tour -- seeing from the inside out how well it is made. And I was equally impressed with how the company treats it's employees and their unrelenting commitment to excellence.

Since it was a long trip (8 hours each way), we added three days to the trip. Asheville is an awesome place to spend some time! Besides Biltmore Estates, which defies description, there are lots of cool shops, galleries, and restaurants in downtown Asheville. I loved the Folk Art Center, which is located off the Blue Ridge Highway -- an experience in itself. The work of dozens of artisans was on display (and for sale), and it was exquisite. We even spent one night in Gatlinburg, TN, which is even cheesier and more commercialized than I remembered.

So May advice -- go to Hancock and Moore, and spend a few days in a gorgeous part of the country! Also, if there is a specific piece you want to see, call first and make sure it will be available.

[wisejd]

Marjflowers, Your's was such an interesting post it makes me want to go back to that part of the country and visit H&M's manufacturing facility. We are absolutely thrilled with our H&M Royal High-Leg Recliner and our Sundance Sofa. Both pieces are just so well-made, comfortable and good looking that we are constantly commenting to each other (spouse and I) how thankful we are that we selected them. No buyer's remorse with this furniture ...it is fantastic. In any case with specific regard to the idea of liking a particular piece but not finding it anywhere ...we would have purchased the Rugby Club if we could have actually seen one. ...loved the looks of that Sofa. Never-the-less the Sundance turned out to be a perfect design for our living room.

[crayolabarb]

Thanks so much for you responses wisejd, peaches, vbnet, and Marjflowers. I agree wisejd, Marjflowers wrote such a beautiful and lively "story" of her search and travels that I'm thinking a trip to NC would be a wonderful vacation adventure as well as hopefully my way of finally finding exactly what furniture I want to invest in and live with. I'll see if I can find exactly where the H&M and BY showrooms are and someone to contact there (hey, I'll ask for Jimmy M. at H&M). Wisejd, hearing how much you and your spouse love your H&M Sundance sofa and Royal high leg recliner, I will definitely have to check them out as well now. I'm smiling at the passion in both of your posts! Love this forum. OK- now to look for airfares from Boston to... where to start? (Oh and Marjflowers- my parents honeymooned in Gaitlinburg and used to take my sister and I there, from Spfld. OH, from on our annual "Smokey Mtn. summer vacation in the 50s. I saw it again maybe 20 yrs ago and- yikes! I'll skip it this time and explore Asheville and environs. Find good places to hike and maybe kayak.

[Marjflowers]

Well, thank you for your kind words -- what a nice way to start my morning!

At the risk of repeating myself, TAKE THE TOUR OF HANCOCK AND MOORE!!! I only toured the recliner plant, and I wish I'd seen moore (pun intended!). Jimmy Moore was such a gracious host, and his pride in their products was so evident. I also heard his equal pride in his family. He's an older man (late 70s), but he has more energy than I did when I was 20! He told me he's semi-retired,which means he gets to work at 5:30 AM and tries to get home by 6:00 PM. As a librarian, I thought a helpful gift would be a new dictionary!!! I was surprised to learn that they have 500 employees, and I was even more surprised by how many he called by name. My visit had what I thought was a funny start -- I arrived early, and I spent 30 minutes in a small waiting room outside the office. I was surprised when a woman made several trips outside with an 8-week old puppy that she was dog sitting for her daughter. I was amazed that any workplace would allow that! I suspect if the puppy had interfered with her getting her work done, it would have been out of there. But it didn't, so my very first impression was how flexible and easy going the place was. Needless to say, I didn't see any puppies once I entered the factory floor, but that same feeling that employees are treated like flesh and blood human beings with individual talents and needs permeated the place. Of course, my Harbison lounger will be lovely and a wonderful piece of furniture. But to me, the real luxury of buying H&M is doing business with a company that I can feel so good about how I treats its employees and ita customers -- exceedingly rare these days. I feel the same way about buying my recliner from Duane. It's wonderful to know places like this still exist.

Crayolabarb -- to get to H&M, you'll want to fly into Charlotte. You can fly from Boston to Charlotte on Southwest for as little as $97 one way -- not bad!

[wisejd]

Photos that CrayolaBarb may enjoy. My daughter (42) has collected Crayola from high school on. Her kitchen is completely Crayola. Both daughters are teachers and kids of any age never tire of Crayola.

[crayolabarb]

Oh my goodness, I just wrote a big response and it "disappeared". Ugh.
Well, short version- thanks again so much for your "colorful" narrative Marjflowers! A librarian, makes sense! ;-)
And Wisejd, I LOVE Love LOVE your daughter's Crayola collection! I've been an art teacher, K-12 for 22 yrs. and Crayola products have been a huge part of my life. By the way I love her display cabinets as well!
I will check out the Harbison lounger Marjflowers. It must be so comfortable! You even sent me air info.- once a librarian....huh?