All these price increases are just ridiculous

And yet another email today from Hooker Furniture

final reminder that Hookers price increases take effect tomorrow, 1-11-22. If you have any outstanding orders, please send them in by the end of the day. As a reminder, the increases are 10% for Hooker Upholstery and 15% for Hooker case goods.

What started out as a worker shortage (Covid) has ramped up into a never-ending cycle of price increases it seems. At the store level, we can't keep up. At the consumer level, I have to wonder if this goes beyond a worker shortage and is simply a money grab by source suppliers. Hooker furniture for example , is 100% imported, they make nothing in the USA and so they are getting torn up by container ship costs. Apparently Container ship costs have increased 300% from a year ago...

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Originally Posted by drcollie

And yet another email today from Hooker Furniture

final reminder that Hookers price increases take effect tomorrow, 1-11-22. If you have any outstanding orders, please send them in by the end of the day. As a reminder, the increases are 10% for Hooker Upholstery and 15% for Hooker case goods.

What started out as a worker shortage (Covid) has ramped up into a never-ending cycle of price increases it seems. At the store level, we can't keep up. At the consumer level, I have to wonder if this goes beyond a worker shortage and is simply a money grab by source suppliers. Hooker furniture for example , is 100% imported, they make nothing in the USA and so they are getting torn up by container ship costs. Apparently Container ship costs have increased 300% from a year ago...

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Do you recommend Hooker furniture? I realize you sell it at your store, but wondered about the quality due to you mentioning it is 100% imported. I've been trying to do tons of research on construction of quality furniture pieces and feel I need to learn even more before we even attempt to make new living room furniture purchases. I know Hooker is not the same quality as H & M, TK, etc. Thanks!

Bargainspotter, this thread does a deep dive into the quality of Hooker Furniture pieces: https://www.myfurnitureforum.com/sho...hooker+console

You are correct that it is not the same quality as H&M or Taylor King, but you can find some decent pieces at fair pricing with Hooker Furniture. I haven't added to that thread since my Hooker bedroom set came in for my guest room - I'm very happy with the quality of the bed and the dresser, but think that the nightstands are lacking.

Thanks so much Sarahc for responding and for the link. I've read a lot on this forum but haven't read the link you gave yet but will definitely do so. Glad to hear you like the quality of most of your bedroom set.

Hooker Furniture is not heirloom quality, however it does carry a fine furniture price tag, either. It hits a balance of usability to budget that is acceptable for many. Hooker does not have any domestic production, it’s 100% imported and they source from different global suppliers. There is some lack in continuity of the line, for example I think the wood case good pieces they have coming out of Vietnam are superior to those from Chinese suppliers. The items I see them import out of Italy are pretty good as well.

It comes down to budget as in most consumer goods of any kind. Not a week goes by that we don’t hear “I only want USA made product” and. That quickly changes when people hear the price.

There are many build levels of product below Hooker, but we don’t carry those lines. We will never sell junk at our store though there are many places that will. Ironically some of the largest furniture retailers have the worst product (Costco, Ashley, etc)

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Originally Posted by drcollie

Hooker Furniture is not heirloom quality, however it does carry a fine furniture price tag, either. It hits a balance of usability to budget that is acceptable for many. Hooker does not have any domestic production, it’s 100% imported and they source from different global suppliers. There is some lack in continuity of the line, for example I think the wood case good pieces they have coming out of Vietnam are superior to those from Chinese suppliers. The items I see them import out of Italy are pretty good as well.

It comes down to budget as in most consumer goods of any kind. Not a week goes by that we don’t hear “I only want USA made product” and. That quickly changes when people hear the price.

There are many build levels of product below Hooker, but we don’t carry those lines. We will never sell junk at our store though there are many places that will. Ironically some of the largest furniture retailers have the worst product (Costco, Ashley, etc)

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Thanks for the quick reply. Yes, my husband and I have decided that we will do lots of research, okay, let's be honest, it will be me doing it, before we purchase new living room furniture. Our kids are adults now, no grandchildren, no pets, etc. We want to buy the best quality we can within our budget but don't want to replace a sofa in 5 years if we don't have to. It's always a fine line between quality and budget but don't want to spend the same money on poor quality when I could have bought something with better quality in the same price range. We are definitely not doing the big box furniture stores.

We are lucky enough to live near Hickory, NC and a little under 2 hours from High Point, NC and have looked at some of the well known stores in those areas. We're taking our time because I don't want to make a big mistake but there is so much to consider besides cost and what appeals to you in regards to style, etc. There are so many different furniture brands to choose from but we're written some of them out of our search after researching different brands.

I wonder if you have any thoughts on the Paula Deen line that is now done by Craftmaster? I have done a search on her line on here but didn't find much of any info and what I did find was when it was under a different brand. I've done some research on Craftmaster and it seems to be maybe above the quality of things bought at big box stores? Maybe better than LaZBoy? I know it is another NC company and know it's not to the standards of more high quality furniture you mention on this forum.

Sorry, there are over a thousand domestic furniture makers, maybe 2,000. There is no way to have construction and quality data on them all, that would be well beyond the scope of this forum, and even an organization such as Consumer Reports. The only way to really tell is not by heresay or reviews, its to get into the factory and see how they are made, or to have a piece you can tear down to the bare frame (which of course destroys the item). It's very hard to tell quality unless you are a pro - but you can pick up tips from here and use them when looking at a piece. Good furniture will last decades if not abused. I personally am of the mindset to pay more on the buy and not have to replace it in the near future.

For example, a $ 4,000 Hancock and Moore leather sofa such as the Doyle in Tilton Leather should be useable AND presentable for 25 to 30 years. A $ 2,000 Fabric Sofa by comparison is probably going to the landfill in 8 years as it will be broken down and fabric worn. You will have to buy three of these over the same time period and they cost more in the long run, plus neither be a comfortable to use or look as nice as the premium piece.

But I get it. The vast majority of shoppers don't think like that - they have "X" dollars they want to spend and go out shopping with that target number in mind, and wind up buying to their budget. Many manufacturers know that is the shopping habit as well, so they build to look nice on the outside, and use inexpensive components on the inside. When the piece fails they ghost you, as they know when they build it that it won't have much sustainability.