I don't get out much. Working at the store six days a week, sometimes seven means the LAST PLACE I want to go into when I get some free time is another place that sells furniture. Today however, my wife and I were out and about at Reston Town Center (VA) and she wanted to go into a store called Anthropologie. Very trendy, very much 'in' with the younger crowd.

OK.

I started looking at their furniture while she was shopping clothing. What I saw just blew me away. I literally was stunned by how poorly made the very EXPENSIVE pieces were. The tags had all the correct buzzwords on them, "made in USA", "Down Cushions", "Hardwood and veneer woods", but the quality was dismal.

The leather sofa I saw there was $ 4,495. A fabric one $ 3,598. My mind was hurting from looking at the flaws and poor workmanship on these. I watched several people come in and remark 'Oooh! I love that leather sofa!" and try it out, all the time remarking how wonderful it was. I bit my tongue - 'twas not my place nor my store to make any comments.

Obviously they sell this to someone. Their furniture line is pretty extensive and priced 3x what its actually worth. I get jaded working with high-quality builders and its good for me to see what else is in the marketplace.

And I have to wonder, is this where so many sales are going? Get a hot, trendy store, professional store designers to create a 'look' and then put huge price tags on what is essentially junk furniture, and assume you customers equate high prices with quality? Must work.....

Anyways, I've said it before and i'll say it again.

1) LEARN what makes a good piece of furniture a good piece.
2) DON'T assume that its quality because its a trendy store.
3) BUY with your head.