There's a lot of junk out there...

When i was at the High Point Market on Sunday I made a lot of blitz runs into showrooms, shrugging off salesmen instantly who wanted to tell me how great and profitable their product is. I had a lot of ground to cover in one day, no time for sales pitches. Having been in the trade for 25 years now, my eyes can tell me what I need to know in seconds.

I can tell you this:

* All this Chinese and Pacific Rim product looks alike. I can tell through the plate glass of the showroom - which is a good thing because I can keep on walking by. And that's about 70% of the showrooms.

* Then there is American Cheap - a new category. Companies that are busy putting MADE IN USA on everything but its still crap. Garbage in, garbage out. Lots of that. They know that there is a Chinese backlash and there's a lot of people rushing to make inexpensive USA-made product. Be careful out there and don't think that automatically means you're getting high quality.

* When you see the good stuff, you know it. Its crisp, tight, has design line features and stands out from the crowd.

* Then there is the 'almost but not quite' group. These guys build decent quality pieces that will hold up, but they miss on the 'art' of furniture. Proportions of design are off, or they use a dozen 2" to 3" strip boards in their 'solid wood' bed headboards or drawer fronts. And nothing turns me off faster than cheap and thin plywood drawer bottoms. Ugh. Classic case of this is this Canadian maker, who could really make some nice stuff if they got rid of the shortcuts:

http://www.durhamfurniture.com/home.php

Here's the piece de' resistance of the Market. I came across this horrid small leather company who seems to be in the business of making cheap clones of Hancock and Moore designs:

http://www.ccleather.com/

Right inside the front door were these two new market intros, knockoffs of the Hancock and Moore Sundance Sofa and Chair. Ugh. They didn't even put the button tufting in the back. Sloppy tailoring, poor sit. I had to snap photos with my cell phone because its pretty bold to rip off H&M's design. I was in and out of there in less than 2 minutes....:cool:

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Originally Posted by drcollie

All this Chinese and Pacific Rim product looks alike.

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That's probably because a lot of the manufacturing takes place in a relatively small number of factories - producing thousands of units per day for an array of manufacturers - and if the manufacturer is outsourcing its frame design, leather selections, etc., along with assembly there would be even less basis for distinction. I suspect that even when the manufacturers are more involved in design issues, having their products made in the same factories will result in a lot of similarity.

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Originally Posted by drcollie

I came across this horrid small leather company who seems to be in the business of making cheap clones of Hancock and Moore designs...

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And that's the best those pieces will ever look - probably the best that the company and its salespeople are capable of making them look.

Drcollie - So happy to see you back on the forum! I'm the person who also went to market, in the H&M showroom same time as you.

My husband told me that the trip to market told us more about what we didn't want than what we want. We didn't realize how much junk was out there.

I think that's why we've settled on H&M sofas and Jessica Charles for a chair. It's a good feeling to finally settle on a brand. Now, I just have to pick out the styles we want.

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Originally Posted by drcollie

* Then there is the 'almost but not quite' group. These guys build decent quality pieces that will hold up, but they miss on the 'art' of furniture. Proportions of design are off, or they use a dozen 2" to 3" strip boards in their 'solid wood' bed headboards or drawer fronts. And nothing turns me off faster than cheap and thin plywood drawer bottoms. Ugh. Classic case of this is this Canadian maker, who could really make some nice stuff if they got rid of the shortcuts:

http://www.durhamfurniture.com/home.php

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Being a Durham owner (I think there are a few of us on this forum) I have a question - What do you think would happen to Durham's price if they didn't do all the shortcuts? The reason I ask is Durham and the other furniture I looked at (Mobel, Stanley and a few others) were at the higher end of my budget when shopping for bedroom furniture. Now if Durham did things without the shortcuts and the price increase was small to moderate it would still be in my budget but if the price increase was moderate-large then Durham might be out of the range. So I'm all for better quality but just wondering how much it would hit the pocketbook.

Yes it would affect price to eliminate the shortcuts. I'd say 20 % - 25 % higher overall almost all of which is in material costs. Solid wood drawer bottoms and backs, eliminate the narrow board glueups (takes a lot of time to glue up small lumber, though wide boards are more costly at the mill). I like the design and look of the Durham product and its price points are decent. I just would like to pay that extra 20 to 25 % and have the pieces done to a higher level - at least for my store and clientele.

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Originally Posted by drcollie

Yes it would affect price to eliminate the shortcuts. I'd say 20 % - 25 % higher overall almost all of which is in material costs. Solid wood drawer bottoms and backs, eliminate the narrow board glueups (takes a lot of time to glue up small lumber, though wide boards are more costly at the mill). I like the design and look of the Durham product and its price points are decent. I just would like to pay that extra 20 to 25 % and have the pieces done to a higher level - at least for my store and clientele.

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I would say back when I was looking another 20-25% in price might of put Durham out of my budget range but I see what you are saying about improved quality/build. To my untrained eye though it seemed most bedroom furniture in the Durham price range had shortcuts somewhere in the build/finish of their products but again I something I thought was inferior/shortcut might of been just fine.

Its just the artistic merit. Those cuts they make to get a price point really have minimal effect on overall durability and use of the pieces.

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Originally Posted by drcollie

Its just the artistic merit. Those cuts they make to get a price point really have minimal effect on overall durability and use of the pieces.

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Well one thing we noticed when shopping is how some drawers were really small compared to the front face plate, or the drawer bottoms seemed to be paper thin.

sloppiness in the upholstery probably indicates that 'hand-tied spring' wasnt tied that great, or the 'double-doweled joint' wasnt fit that snug, either.