have you been to ABC down on 18th / broadway? i've had great luck with them. i think everything they carry is very good quality. you should really take a look.

kateskouros - Thanks for the ABC suggestion! Actually, I would have never considered them, because when I've looked in the past for other items, most recently an area rug, they were well above my price range, even on sale. Beautiful, well-made items, but pricey. After reading your suggestion, I took a look online and was surprised by the prices. I'm going to try and stop by soon and check out the sofas in person. Hopefully, there will be one that I like that will fit in my tiny apartment.

Btw, have you heard anything about Room and Board's sofas?
I have a metal bed frame from them that I purchased on sale which I thought was well made. But I wasn't sure about their sofas.

Anyway, thank you again for the ABC suggestion. I would never have thought to look based on my prior experience.

from what i've read about R&B -on GW and elsewhere, i tend to steer clear of them. i'm currently searching for an upholstered sectional, so i understand your plight. quality furniture is hard to find these days -even if you can afford to pay obscene amounts for it.

i should mention, ABC is a retailer. they sell different brands of furnishings. BUT they never tell you what you're buying. they always say "it's manufactured for us" or some other nonsense. you can look under the cushions for manufacturer identification, but they do a pretty good job of stripping everything of any clues. what i've done in the past, is to get a quote and also an image of whatever i was interested in and search it out elsewhere. there used to be a place on 19th St, not far from ABC -north caroline furniture something or other - and they had stacks of catalogs. they'd usually be able to ID the piece and get a much lower quote. but don't bother with them. they have since gone out of business and from what i gather, there are a LOT of people looking for them.

you can however get in touch with a few of the NC retailers; boyle's, furnitureland, etc and see if they can help. and as it turns out, the items i had previously selected at ABC that was supposedly manufactured just for them -and not available "anywhere else" in the whole wide world were made by sherrill, hickory white, maitland smith and henredon -and very easily obtainable elsewhere for considerably less once i was able to identify the brand.

in case you didn't know, furniture dealers are the lowest form of bottom feeder on the planet. used car salesmen now enjoy elevated status amongst the sleazy.

kateskouros - Thanks so much for the helpful information. Yup, I knew that ABC was a retailer, though I had no idea they were so strict and thorough about hiding the names of their manufacturers. Very good to know as well as the North Carolina manufacturers. I've noticed on a number of the posts and other websites that ppl recommend North Carolina made furniture. It seems that North Carolina is the place to go for sofas.

I was surprised that R&B on the Garden Web and elsewhere were negative. I tried to do a search for R&B on GW and turned up nothing - think I may need to revise my search terms . Elsewhere when I've come across R&B, the main criticism seemed to be more about service and price and less about the product quality. Still good to know that you've heard enough negative to steer clear.

Yeah, I'm not surprised about the furniture salespeople. Thanks for the warning.
Thanks again for the advice and information.

I've spec'd a sofas from Room and Board for several clients (some of whom have had the sofas for almost ten years) and I haven't heard any complaints. I think they are a pretty good fit for your budget.

Dear Kateskouros your comment about furniture dealers:

"in case you didn't know, furniture retailers are the lowest form of bottom feeder on the planet"

Is completely untrue and unfounded at least no more so than any other retailer.

Over the years I have known many furniture retailers (hundreds) from all walks of life and most of them are honest well meaning individuals. It is not easy for many of these retailers to get by despite what some may think. The typical mom and pop has to maintain a building, pay rents or mortgages, warehouse, staff, inventory, trucks, and advertising. They find their margins are always going down. That's why thousands of furniture retailers have closed their doors over the past twenty years.

Like in any other field there are exceptions and perhaps you have encountered individuals not up to your standards.

But I think in general you owe these people an apology.

palimpsest - Thanks so much for the feedback about Room and Board sofas. I really do like my metal bed frame from them which has held up well. And I didn't have any problems with customer service either when purchasing the bed frame.

I will definitely keep them on my list of stores to check out sofas. I'm glad to hear that your clients have had no issues with their sofas, even a decade later. Most of the reviews I've come across have been for more recent purchases, granted the reviewers were very happy with their new purchases. Thanks, again.

Here's another vote for R&B.
I bought two of their couches from craigslist.
I'm guessing retail was $2k-$3k and the leather is
very high quality and the couches are comfortable.

Bourbonguy if you have the time to keep checking you can really get some good items on Craigslist and it's a good way to sell your furniture if you are looking for something new.

This post was edited by Freethinker99 on Thu, Jan 10, 13 at 17:30

bump