Re: Hancock and Moore City v. Anderson and Question about Tanning Process
The City Sofa comes in two sizes, the # 9840 (smaller) which is what most stores show on the floor as its in the Town and Country collection, and the larger # 9844 which is not on promo. The # 9844 measures 73" x 23" on the inside vs the smaller # 9840.
As wisejd pointed out, one of the City units you tried may have had optional and extra cost ultra down cushion cores installed, that will affect the way they sit.
Samples swatches are always made of scrap. When cutting out hides for production, appx 28 % of the hide is too coarse or too wrinkled or otherwise flawed to use in the build so it becomes salvage and that's what they make the samples from. So, when looking at swatches use them primarily for color and top coat feel, don't rely on the grain patterns to be accurate as in most cases the actual piece of furniture you purchase will have better leather on it than the swatch.
You can ask for a nail delete at no charge on any H&M piece. You can also ask for firmer cushions if you like (Q21 cores) at no charge at time of order.
If you don't care for the September or Austin, you won't like the Journey! The reason the Journey is more costly is you were looking at Town and Country program items in the September and Austin, and the Journey is not in the current 2014 promotion (nor is the # 9844 City). The T&C promo items are all scanned in here on the forum under LEATHER.
Tanning leathers is nasty business, that's why there are no USA tanneries of any size. They use hazardous and potentially carcinogenic materials in the process which can expose to the workers - but not the end consumer - and it pollutes a lot of water. Recovery and safety equipment is highly costly and 99% of all leathers used in anyone's leather products are done overseas for that reason. The finished hides have no hazardous chemicals on them. That was taken care of decades ago, can you imagine the liability exposure otherwise in our litigious culture today if otherwise? Back the 1960's there was a leather everyone used called 'China Cow', it was cheap and popular and had a little trademark brand on it. Turned out that it had active carcinogens on the surface that could be absorbed into one's skin if one sat on the piece when hot and sweaty - once that was discovered that was the end of China Cow and the leather industry made sure the finished product was safe from there on out. I can't tell you the chemical composition of the current hides, that's beyond the scope of dealer information - but I can tell you that the President of H&M visits every tannery they use as a supplier on a regular basis to make sure it meets their criteria, whatever that may be. They only use two of the tanneries in China, he has told me that, because they find only those two are acceptable. He has also told me the cleanest and most green tannery he has every seen in in Belgium, where they get the GR 5 ENVY series leather, supposedly its a phenomenal and cutting edge tannery operation.
All H&M cushion and build materials meet current California standards, which are the most stringent in the country. The Bradingon-Young pieces are labeled 'Not for sale in California' as I see them come through on the new pieces (doesn't preclude shipping them into CA, howver). There has been some debate on that however, according to all the people I speak with in the trade, all cushion manufacturers currently build to the CA standard which if true (and it comes from reliable sources) then there B-Y needs to remove its 'Not for sale in California' label.
Duane Collie
Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
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