We're looking for either a sectional or sofa & loveseat. Unfortunately, right now my looking is limited to what I can do from home! I saw some nice-looking pieces on CraigsList from Ashley Furniture. A quick look at their website didn't indicate any construction details on the pieces. Any experience with or opinions on their quality?
Thanks Duane. After I asked here, I went over to the GardenWeb furniture forum, and found a few discussions there. While a few people were happy with their purchases, the overwhelming majority considered it junk. My favorite comment was
"Friends don't let friends buy Ashley."
As a buyer for a large furniture chain store several years ago, I purchased several million dollars worth of Ashley furniture for my stores. Basically Ashley is what is known in the furniture industry as "furniture by the pound." You get a big plushy-looking piece of furniture for a low price. They way they achieve that is by skimping on the insides, saving money on whatever you can't see. They also buy the cheapest fabrics in most cases and use factories in the Far East. If you are looking for a $399 sofa that will last 2-3 years, Ashley will give you an excellent value compared to other cheap sofas. Their more expensive sofas basically have the same insides but more expensive fabrics and more profit margin. For the longer term, I would avoid the company.
I went to an Ashley store to see what it was about and the furniture seemed very cheap, but worse was the salesman who pounced on me the minute I walked into the door, wouldn't let me out of his sight (I had to go to the ladies room to try to lose him), and when I tried to leave without buying anything was extremely aggressive and really got in my face. It was an awful experience. I echo the sentiment, LOL, friends don't let friends GO INTO Ashley! Better to go to the consignment store to save money.