You are so right Ossienyc! I have sent Horchow many e-mails asking for addt'l info and received it. But never on furniture. So after reading your post, I decided to send an e-mail to see what kind of response I would get. Sure enough Ossienyc, they said that they had an "agreement" with the vendor to not disclose the manufacturer. This is what they wrote to me via e-mail:

"Thank you for contacting Horchow Online.

We received your email requesting vendor or manufacturer information for the ottoman, item #HCOS6_F9027.

Due to an agreement with the vendor, we are not authorized to release this information.

We do apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused, however, if you have a specific questions regarding this particular item, we will be more than happy to research your request.

As soon as we have received the information from our buying office or our vendor, we will contact you.

Thank you again for shopping with Horchow Online.

We are always happy to assist. If we can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely,
David Jensen
customerservice@ecare.horchow.com"

I responded with the follow e-mail.

"It is very suspicious that Horchow actually has an agreement to hide the
name of the manufacture.. Every store and interior designer that I have
ever purchased furniture from identifies the manufacture. I know my bed is
from Baker; my nightstands are Hickory Chair; my living room occasional
chairs are Donghia; and my dinning table, chairs, and sideboard are Kindel.
My family room occasional chair is EJ Victor with COM. My desk is Stickely.
My media room leather sofa, chair and ottoman are Hancock and
Moore...Indeed, I know the manufacture of every piece of furniture I own. I
even know my fabric manufactures: my dinning chairs are covered in Zimmer +
Rhodes fabric; several chairs are covered in Donghia and a sofa is covered
in Karvet. My drapes are made of fabric from Brunschwig & Fils and Hines &
Co. My bedding is Sferra. I even know the brands of my accessories--such
as lamps and mirrors.

I have never heard of a 3-party retailer engaging in a secret agreement to
hide the identity of the furniture manufacture. I can only surmise that it
must be over priced junk. Probably no brand at all or the likes of Vanguard
or Hekman furniture. Like most consumers, I know what I am buying before I
buy it."

Another customer service rep sent me back a note stating she thought I made some interesting points. Thus, she was forwarding my e-mail to the person in the organization that makes the decision on these matters.

As I stated in my e-mail to them, I have never heard of a retailer hiding the manufacturer from the consumer. It is very strange behavior. Truly, have you ever had a furniture store salesperson say to you, "We cannot disclose the maker of that sofa."

My hunch is they have low quality factory mills produce most of their stuff; since they present themselves as a high-end retailer (owed and operated by Neiman Marcus), they do not want to disclose the fact that their furniture is produced in a low-end mill. It happened that I received a Horchow catalog the other day and saw the chairs mentioned in the original post. If you look closely, you will see two strange indentations in the wood on the left side of the chair only. The wood looks like it has been "scooped" out. While the wood is suppose to look distressed, the factory obviously did not execute the technique very well. The indentations look more like flaws. That chair would be a reject if delivered to most consumers. Interestingly, Horchow did not catch the noticeable "flaw"they photographed the chair and printed the photo in their catalog. Does this mean they really donÂt care about the quality of the furniture they sell?