Home Theater

This is Part Two on buying leather sofas...



I finished the construction aspects of my home theater over the summer, however never actually placed much furniture into it. I had my eye on a Lane Wakefield Sofa (pictured above) which I saw in a furniture store down south for $899. I figured that it should be easy to find the same sofa at a retailer near my home but I was sadly mistaken.

The first store I visited was Nassau's Furniture in Avon CT where the sales person told me that I couldn't order this sofa in Blackberry as the color is no longer available. She did indicate that I could order it in another color but for a retail price of $1499. Later, I learned that salespeople tend to tell lies whenever a consumer finds a price that happens to be lower than the store wants to sell it for or when it reduces the commission that the salesperson makes. Sadly, this experience has caused me to not only trust this retailer but to tell others about it.

Nassau's did indicate though that they had the same sofa in stock in another color for $1099 but I decided to pass and figured that there would be another retailer that would be willing to help me.

Yesterday, I visited Pilgrim Furniture in Southington CT as they are usually cheaper. They had the sofa on floor but I almost fell over after seeing the sticker price of $1299. They told me that the sofa has a list price of $1,999. I wanted to tell the salesperson to shove it somewhere but simply told him I will purchase it on clearance as part of your going out of business sale and walked away.

Down the road was Bob's Discount Furniture who sells lower quality made in China pieces. I figured I would compromise a little on quality in hopes of putting my frustration behind me. Imagine walking into the store and seeing over ten salespeople all idle. I thought to myself, that they must be getting paid 100% commission as no retailer could afford so many people sitting idly.

I learned that in the furniture profession, many folks are exploited by furniture store owners who may have folks work hard and not even earn a nickel for the day. Anyway, all of his sofas were of nebulous quality. One characteristic of a higher-quality sofa is that the cushions should be removable. If you ever run across a sofa with fixed cushions, you should avoid it like the plaque.

The very first thing to wear out in a sofa is usually the cushions. If you don't have the ability to replace them, then you will be buying another one in a couple of years (if you are lucky to have it last that long).

Another characteristic of a higher-quality sofa is to only order sofas that have equivalent models that convert into beds. They have to be made to higher standard and likewise will also have to be at least 89" wide, so manufacturers have less opportunity to shortcut on ingredients.

Anyway, if anyone knows where I can obtain my sofa (or one with similar characteristics)for a good price via the Internet, please do not hesitate to leave a comment...