Ordered my City Sofa yesterday in the program Cavalier Mocha with Black Nickel nails. Sadly, adding the nails took it out of the quick ship program, and I am told to expect it to take 10 weeks. They actually won't put the order in until Monday, so I have at least until then if I decide to make any changes in the cushions or nails.

I got the Ultra Down cushions. They really kind of pushed it. There was no up charge, because they said as a premier dealer of some sort H&M gives them the Ultra Down at no extra cost, so that is all they order. They would put it through with standard cores if I insisted but there was no way for me to try a standard core first because all their sofas have the Ultra Down, and it would be the same price. I was OK with the comfort of it and I just hope the Cavalier leather is not one that stretches a lot.

For some reason the sample boards they have with the nails did not have the Black Pearl or the Black Nickel nails on it, so I was not able to actually see them. Is there any way to get a single nail sample or something before they actually start building it, when changes are still possible?

Wow, a single piece of 17" x 17" leather for a headrest cover was 150.00. I only got one. The arms covers would have been the same price, but I didn't think would look right over the arms because they would probably cover part of the nails. I can put it over the arm if I want and I can always order a second, but I expected it to be under 100.00. I do wish I could order them elsewhere at a better price and I probably would have gotten 2 or 3.

The price had gone up to over 3200.00 for the sofa somehow! I was orignally quoted 2799.00 before the last price increase. They told me the nails were a 300.00 upgrade and when I was surprised and mentioned that I had gotten prices that ranged from 110.00 to 140.00 for that she exclaimed that that was below cost and why anyone do that. They did match the price of another local dealer on the sofa at 2699.00 so I did go with them and paid the up charge for the nails. I could tell that was non negotiable.

So that has been my experience with my local Stickley dealer. The actual sofa price was competitive but not the lowest price I was offered and I did end up paying more for the upgrades. They did price match but only locally. Stickley is a national dealer and I just thought I would share some info on the local prices around here for those wondering how they compare to shopping online. I really liked my sales person, which is important, and if I hadn't I wouldn't have gone there. I am comfortable with their reputation for helping to resolve any issues after the sale which was a big reason I decided to order locally this time. If they had stuck to their new price of over 3200.00 I would have ordered long distance. You just have to balance for yourself the cost and your comfort with the reputation of your seller and go from there.

Now for an ottoman...