I was just going over this in the store with a client, and after I ran the numbers I said to myself "You should post this". At the risk of angering H&M management I am going to.
The Town and Country Program is changing very soon, in the next days or weeks (not months). A lot of you won't like the changes, especially the prices. This is the last shot to get in at what I think are deals that are going to go away forever on this brand. And here's the best of them all in the program.
The # 6565-3 Doyle Sofa in Tilton Moose https://www.hancockandmoore.com/Prod...il/?SKU=6565-3
Tilton is a South American pure aniline hide, of of the few in the Program (most are finished leathers) it will come out of the Program when its revised because it had a significant price increase from the tannery. It's also one I happen to like a lot and recommend. The Doyle is also a very comfortable, traditional sofa that is a good seller for us.
Before Shipping / Delivery costs, you can buy that sofa for a few more days / weeks at $ 4,106. Once the program changes it will be $ 7,063 in that same leather. That is not a mis-print..it's a whopping $ 2,957 difference! The matching chair and ottoman are similarly priced.
Yes, it still takes 6 to 7 months to build and requires a 50% deposit to order. Please don't ask me when the last day to order is, I don't know. It can happen at any time and once the computers are changed at H&M, that program is fully revised and those prices go away.
Don't say I didn't warn you!
Duane Collie
Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.
It’s not really an increase per se, more that the Town and Country Program has been left untouched over the past three increases. It was in effect marooned on its own little H&M Island while everything else increased around it more than once. So this revision catches it up to the rest of the line.
Last edited by drcollie; 08-19-2022 at 11:46 AM.
Duane Collie
Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.
Good Morning Duane,
This makes me even more glad that we were able to get our Tilton Lager sofa ordered prior to this round of increases. Is H&M going to give you any advance copy of what models and married options will be in the new T&C before they change the program in the computers?
Given your volume and frankly the benefits H&M likely receive from this forum...I would hope they would do you that courtesy.
Cheers,
Jason
Not usually in this instance, because they don't want order buy-ins at the existing price structure. The only time we get good advance notice from any supplier is when they want to get a sales spike prior to an increase, sort of a "Sale" in reverse. Customers buy-in before the increase and it builds orders.
in this instance, they are way, way behind in revising Town and Country and the profit margins are destroyed for them already, so they don't really want new orders because this Program didn't keep up increase-wise with the cost increases from Suppliers over the past year. That's why this will be a short-notice program change (in my opinion).
Part of the reason they have been lagging on Town and Country updating is they are moving out of Chinese suppliers, and 80% of the program leathers in the T&C Collection are Chinese-tannery sourced right now. So they have been lining up new sources in new leathers to be non-Asian based and the Program should see a full revision where much of the current offerings disappear. Leathers like Tilton have become too expensive to offer in T&C as feature covers, that's why that Doyle Sofa is such a great buy right now.
Customer procrastinate. Fact of life that the larger the purchase price, the more inclination there is to not rush into a buy. I get that. But I also know that we have dozens of clients that price something out and then come back to do the buy several months later and are stunned to see the pricing they had earlier no longer applies, and that's a huge turn-off. I get that, too. Invariably we get asked if we can roll back the prices to the earlier quote - and we cannot do it. Once the computer program switched over at any of our suppliers to new pricing, it requires an executive directive from upper management to alter a price, and they almost never agree to do so.
So this is FAIR WARNING. You are not going to see these prices again (again my opinion, not fact) when this Town and Country Program is revised and the new one goes into effect. I could be mistaken, but after doing this 35 years, I am right more than I am wrong on predictions!
Another current great buy in the existing T&C Program is the Traveler's Swivel Chair # 5852-S in any of the T&C Burnished Leathers. We sell these like hotcakes, everyone likes them because they are a compact chair that doesn't sit small and they are priced @ $ 2,779 before shipping/delivery right now. One of our favorite chairs at The Keeping Room and no idea what will happen to this one after the revision or if it will still exist in the Promotion.
Duane Collie
Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.