Duane,
Do you know whether Flexsteel is now bringing in products from Asia? I saw a Flexsteel chair the other day with a no-sag spring construction instead of the sturdy and comfortable blue steel parabolic spring that they have used for nearly 100 years. The rest of the chair did not seem to match up to the Flexsteel standards that I recall either.
Hi Jeff,
They have their one collection (Latitudes) which is 100% made in China, and then USA-made products that come out of either their GA, IA, PA, or MS plants. They recently rolled out some higher-end looking products which are not on the blue spring system and clearly the carved frames appear to be imported, but I can't say for sure. I'm actually fairly impressed with these newer pieces with exposed wood. Sturdy, well-tailored and they sit well - pretty good price point, too.
The Chinese-made Latitudes collection is not for me, however. Like much of the Chinese-made products in general, I can find many shortcuts and poor material content in that grouping.
I was browsing your web site the other day and really liked how you have fabric overlayment visuals on your site for your frames you offer. Well done! I've been bugging all my companies to do that for over ten years now, and they all claim its too expensive to do. That's smart marketing on your part 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.
Thanks for the comment on the Simplicity Sofas website. Your companies are right about the expense. We paid $30,000 for the overlay visual programming plus another $40 every time we add a new fabric. I felt it was essential for our website since that is where 95% of our sales come from.
I was wondering how its done? Photoshop work on each item ? (which I think is what you are doing) or do you actually make up a frame in each fabric and photograph it one by one?
I agree with you on that being a wise investment, especially since you do the bulk of your business via internet. Cuts down on ordering errors considerably I would imagine and helps the customers visualize what they are ordering, increasing their comfort level considerably.
Duane Collie
Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.
You are absolutely correct. The sofa pictures are real, then color corrected to be a neutral white color. The other size pieces are photo shopped from the sofa. The room setting pictures are genuine.
Jeff Frank
www.simplicitysofas.com