OT: Good furniture stores

[Ocicat]

I'd love to hear recommendations for good places to buy furniture locally — specifically, a sofa/loveseat set.

I've spent a lot of time at American, as they have unbeatable prices on appliances if you catch them at the right time, and I've also looked at Carol House several times.

I think they both hike their prices for so-called "sales," and that ticks me off. I saw this very cool, tall-backed sofa chair (reminded me of the Mad Hatter) in Carol House several (6-8?) months ago for $800. I was back there today and saw a "clearance" tag on it, got my hopes up, and found that the original price was now given as $1000 and the "clearance" price was $795. :mad2:

I think CH is worse than American in price gouging, but I'm fairly certain that American hiked the price on a sofa I was eyeing, by about $100, when they put it on sale. I asked a salesperson, and she denied it.

The couches I have now were purchased at Weekends Only, $800 for the set, about 5 years ago. They're Simmons. They are looking raggedy and are none too firm any more... This time around I'm looking for something that will last forever, like Bernhardt or Cochrane, although they cost a small fortune. Also I've found that it's really hard to research sofas online, get the skinny on the best makers, etc. I'm not sure why that is, but it's frustrating as heck because the only place I can get info on manufacturers is from the stores. (Imagine relying wholly on LFS for all information...) I have learned to look for a "kiln-dried hardwood" frame, dowels instead of screws, and "hand-tied" springs.

So... I'd love to hear any recommendations for any good, honest furniture dealers in the area... if there is such a thing.
:confused:

[Shooter7]

We bought a sofa and 2 recliners from La-Z-Boy a little over a year ago. Have to say that I'm not entirely thrilled with the purchase. We spent alot of time discussing (arguing) what cloth we wanted on them and colors and all that. Especially the sofa has lost alot of its support and the cushions are really smushed already. It's hard to say though because they seem to have so many different "grades" of furniture. Still, we paid a good chunk for this stuff intending on it lasting for many years and we're probably going to be trying to sell it soon and replace it.

A few years back we bought a bedroom set from Rothman. I can't comment on the pricing or gouging therein, but it seemed like a decent price, we got multiple years of interest free financing, and the furniture is still in really great shape today.

[Hobbes8017]

Well, this type of question will lead to alot of opinions, but that is what you are asking for.......

I recently bought a complete livingroom set and bedroom set. I went to all the different stores around and looked at alot of different styles. Overall, price and customer service had me buy everything at Rothman Furniture. Awesome stuff, good pricing.

Had a piece of trim pop off when they we delivering bedroom furniture. Rothman called an hour after the delivery guys left and offered to send a new dresser later that week. I told them it was a minor piece of trim and that one of their repair guys could fix it in 10 minutes. Two days later, he arrived and re-attached the trim, cant even tell what he did.

[DrBDC]

We bought a sofa/loveseat from Rothman and it's holding up pretty good 5 years later, I can't really see any wear except the throw pillows. 4 boys can tear one up pretty quick usually. My last one was gone in 5 years.

My parents bought a sofa/loveseat at Bassett and it has some kind of flex steel support. It seems to work pretty good considering they had a 180 lb Bull mastiff 24/7 on it.

[Ocicat]

Thanks, guys! I will check out Rothman. Hobbes, which store did you buy from? Sounds like great service, and I suspect that could vary by location (management).

Shooter7, we have a La-Z-Boy recliner that we love. Of course, that's what they are known for. I have read to look for a high-quality foam core in the cushions; low-quality foam will break down. The difficult part is finding out what's inside a given cushion without x-ray vision. :p One thing I like about American is that all the sofas are clearly labeled with warranty & construction information; at CH, you have to pull up cushions and dig around, and even then you may well not find any info.

And as for opinions, I definitely do want a bunch of them!

[Markk96]

Since my GF works for American we buy most of our stuff there. However we did recently buy a new fridge at Lowes.

[Hobbes8017]

I bought from the store out off Hwy 70 and 79. Think it is considered O'Fallon....

My sales rep was April. Very helpful. She even sold stuff to my sister since then. I bought all this stuff in November 2005

[HouseDJSTL]

I worked at Weekends Only for about 3 years and most of their stuff is not all that great. The only decent sofa/loveseat stuff they had was either made by Ashley or Simmons. If it wasn't either of those, it was some "no name" company and was usually junk!

[Kathy55g]

I have a lazy Boy sofa and loveseat that has held up pretty well for 20 years of constant use including 2 kids. I also have Ethan Allan sofa and loveseat that still look new after 15 years of not so constant use. We paid more for the EA set, but it lasts forever, and I still love it.

Probably cost per year is less with the higher quality stuff.

[DrBDC]

I got a pretty tough stratolounger at weekends only. I've had it 4 or 5 years.

[Ocicat]

I ended up going with Bassett. I had no idea when I went there that they aren't just a store but also the manufacturer; everything there is custom-made by them. They offer a lifetime warranty on everything but the fabric and feet, which is fairly uncommon for sofas. One thing I really like is that if I do have a problem, I can go back there and talk directly to them, in person, rather than having to deal with some faceless company out of state. If I need a new cushion, even an additional matching piece, or any sort of repair down the road, it should be easy. It wasn't cheap, but it should (it had better!) last forever. It'll be here in 4-6 weeks... It has to be made using the fabrics we chose. (Who knew fabric was so expensive? You could DOUBLE the cost of a sofa by choosing a high-end fabric!)

[Dert42]

oh man you CAN'T beat the Ashley store for prices.
off hwy K.
my wife and i just bought (this past weekend):
a double recliner microswede loveseat
a double recliner microswede couch
5 year fabric and parts exteneded warrenty on each
2 end tables
a big arse entertainment center
and deliver
for about $2100 INCLUDING TAX!