Leathercraft on Amazon

[Judyg951]

I also ordered my new furniture from Duane. His experience and advice as well as his prices made buying form The Keeping Room a pretty easy decision. I'm really excited about my purchase (Donavan sofa, chairs and Meridian Cocktail Ottoman as well as a Hollis Bench (one of the specials). They should ship in 3-4 weeks. How long did it take for your order to ship to the west coast? Did you use Sun Delivery? I will be very interested to hear about your experience with them.

[aaron]

What about Royal Pedic, they sell through online stores and brick and mortar dealers.

On-Line sellers of R.P. do not get the same product as brick and mortar stores.

Also this looks like a direct sale to me (Leathercraft as the vendor through Amazon Marketplace), not a sale through an online merchant.

[MJM_CA]

Judy, I live in the L.A. Area and had two purchases from Duane. First was a sectional delivered by West Express. The arm was unfortunately rubbed through and had to be shipped back. It took about a month to get back with the repair. Duane stopped using West Express.

I had a recliner ordered and delivered by Sun Delivery. Took about a week and half to get to L.A. Only problem was a glide on the recliner foot was missing and when they set it down it scratched the hardwood floor pretty good...oh well, that's life. No other problems.

[Judyg951]

MJM, I'm in Riverside and was thinking it would take a lot longer to ship out here. that's good to hear.

I'm assuming that they replaced the recliner foot and repaired your floor?

[astonmartin]

a.After a few year period of monitoring myfurnitureforum.com and emails with Duane, it became obvious that buying from his shop in VA was the next best thing to buying it from a trusted local dealer. I live near Portland, Oregon and there is one dealer within a few hundred miles. That dealer's prices are not even remotely close to what I expected to pay. And I seemed to know more about leather and their high end furniture line than their sales woman did. I have lived in Virginia and North Carolina (1990s) and know what kind of discounts from MSRP where available on a routine basis. I was shocked at what I was being asked to pay for quality leather furniture on the west coast.

Hi prosdds. I live in eastern Oregon and found the same thing was true about buying from Duane than the furniture stores I found in eastern Washington and Idaho that carried high end brands. For example, the furniture store did not know what the Town & Country program was, that Hancock and Moore offered free cushion replacements to the original owner, or even which manufacturers were made in USA.

A quick note about Amazon.com. They have opened a huge warehouse in eastern Oregon and are stocking millions in merchandise for immediate shipment. In a reverse of their business model, they are also opening brick and mortar stores. In regards to the Leathercraft chairs they are selling, it is not Leathercraft's entire line by any means. If I were serious about buying from them, I would look at the leathers offered on Amazon.com, then look on Leathercraft's website for more information about the grade of the leather and finally contact Leathercraft or a dealer who sells them to see and feel the leather. Unfortunately, for me there is only one Leathercraft dealer in the entire PNW, near Seattle, and he does not even stock their products. His prices are full retail.

I am by no means suggesting anyone buy anything on Amazon.com. In fact, the chairs they offer are not what I am looking for. I was simply shocked to see the chairs on Amazon to begin with. And frankly, the prices and free shipping (at least for Amazon Prime customers) seemed like a good deal. Like you, I have bought huge TV's from Amazon.com, and nothing has arrived damaged. The problem I have where I live is with UPS who seem bent on destroying anything coming to my house. That's why I decided to cough up the $79 to become an Amazon.com Prime customer so I can get just about everything in two days. I figure the less time it's in UPS hands the better.

Duane gave me a great price on my Royal-Pedic bed. The bed is so beautiful I hate to put sheets on it. It's the little details, the hand turfting, the substantial handles that remind me of the bed I had growing up, made the way beds were made in the day. It arrived in perfect condition and ahead of schedule. There is so much confusion out their about bed buying and I spent days researching online and what clinched it for me were two things. First, Duane said no one had ever complained about their bed. Second, this video .

Anyone looking for home furnishings should start at myfurniture.com and Duane at The Keeping Room. He knows his product and cares about his customers.

[Judyg951]

I think that Leathercraft is testing the waters to see if this works for them. That is why they are only selling chairs through Amazon right now. If they have a good response I'll bet that they add sofas and more options, or maybe they just plan on this being a mass produced outlet for them with little or no options for customers who want a "good deal" online. So if you want something specific you need to look at a dealer. The chairs are still pricy even for amazon.

I don't blame you Duane for dropping the line especially if you don't sell a lot of it anyways.

[drcollie]

My thoughts exactly, Judy. Once a maker goes down this road, they will ultimately find a way to bypass their dealer network in some manner even if Amazon doesn't work out for them in the long run. I've been in this business since 1985, and seen this before, it always turns out the same. When a maker is willing to throw its dealers under the bus, then its just a matter of time until they're all run over. I'm just getting out of the line now, and will dedicate my very limited floor space to product lines that appreciate their dealer network (and there are plenty of makers that do).

High Point Market is in three weeks time, I'll shop some new lines when I'm there.

[astonmartin]

I think that Leathercraft is testing the waters to see if this works for them. That is why they are only selling chairs through Amazon right now. If they have a good response I'll bet that they add sofas and more options, or maybe they just plan on this being a mass produced outlet for them with little or no options for customers who want a "good deal" online. So if you want something specific you need to look at a dealer. The chairs are still pricy even for amazon.

I don't blame you Duane for dropping the line especially if you don't sell a lot of it anyways.

Just to see what would happen, I emailed Leathercraft through their website asking if they were be other offerings in the future on amazon.com. I received a quick reply from their northwest rep. He said if I provided him the chair and leather(s) I was interested in he would quote me a price, hinting it would be less than the quoted retail price on their website. It sounds like they are serious about generating sales outside their dealer base.

[prosdds]

Hi again all,

Judy and Duane
Every manufacturer is entitled to seek their own level to make their business model work. Apparently Leathercraft was not fairing well in competition with Hancock and Moore, etc. in the traditional brick and mortar high end stores. Thats OK, not everyone can compete for the same customer base and achieve an equal outcome. There will be winners and losers. The losers are free to move on to try to fill new niches... nothing wrong with that. I wish then well.

Duane on the other hand is free to look out for his own best interests and drop the line. It will benefit his operation in the long run. I choose to do business with Duane as far as leather furniture is concerned.

Remember, as Duane has often said, we are not the furniture manufacturers customers, Duane is. We are Duane's customers. We need Duane to go to bat for us when we have a concern. By all accounts, Duane has a good track record for representing his customer's best interest to the furniture manufacturers.

My Hancock and Moore order shipped from North Carolina on September 1, on Sun Delivery. My delivery window is September 20 or 21 (at this point point) to Vancouver, WA. It will narrow down to a 4 hour window in the next day or two.

Astonmartin,
I too have Amazon Prime and rarely a week goes by that I am not ordering something using their services. I have a different experience with UPS here in Vancouver, WA. Almost without exception, everything I have ever ordered here in the last 12 years has arrived safe and sound. That goes for FEDEX as well. Sorry to hear about your disappointing experience with UPS. And thanks for the update on the eastern Oregon Amazon warehouse. Right now a lot of stuff I order on Prime is shipped out of warehouses in the Seattle area.

[Dgw9]

If any are interested in seeing a store, which drove enough small television and appliance stores out of business and who in turn are now deeply troubled themselves by internet pricing, keep an eye on Best Buy. They are starting to circle the drain. Payback is what again?