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Timber Loftis · 10-17-2005, 09:39 AM

If you are looking for good furniture at a reasonable rate, there's this store in Chicago call Dania Design: http://www.daniafurniture.com/

I don't know how they are to order from online w/ shipping, but I have picked up several living room pieces there for much cheaper than I found them elsewhere.

For instance, THIS is my sofa and it has a matching chair, and I got both for $2000 when individually I was pricing them out for $2000+ each at other places. We plan to get THIS STUFF together for a bedroom set during the months surrounding Christmas, as our gift to each other.

I haven't seen another company like this, one that makes furniture that is easily mistakable for high end stuff, yet costs 30=50% of what the high end stuff costs.

We picked up an IKEA piece this weekend for our kitchen. It was INCREDIBLY reasonably priced for our needs. However, the one issue I do have w/ Ikea is the amount of laminated furniture they have, and the laminate's tendancy to chip easily. Of course, you can compare that to how easy most wood items are to scratch these days, so...

Now, why is furniture so expensive? Well, raw parts for one thing. There are 2, and only 2, companies that make italian leather sofas, for instance. And leather is not so plentiful as you'd think. One of the companies (De Coro) recently opened a shop in China, where the sweatshop labor prices will greatly reduce the inputs of one of their costs. This has resulted in some much more reasonable leather prices. Still, it ain't cheap.

Another raw part you can't underestimate the value of is wood. Let's say you want a solid wood dining table. Well, you'd need two pieces of wood, each on the order of 3 feet (1m) large. How many trees around you have that large a diameter?

Regarding the notion that US furniture manufacturers can compete with China, there's NO CHANCE. You can't compete with their labor price, one of the downfalls of globalization and the "flattening world." The only thing a labor-intensive industry in the first world can compete against the 2nd/3rd world on is QUALITY, which is something for which you can always charge more.

[ 10-17-2005, 09:46 AM: Message edited by: Timber Loftis ]

10-17-2005, 09:39 AM	#11
Timber Loftis 40th Level Warrior Join Date: July 11, 2002 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 11,916	If you are looking for good furniture at a reasonable rate, there's this store in Chicago call Dania Design: http://www.daniafurniture.com/ I don't know how they are to order from online w/ shipping, but I have picked up several living room pieces there for much cheaper than I found them elsewhere. For instance, THIS is my sofa and it has a matching chair, and I got both for $2000 when individually I was pricing them out for $2000+ each at other places. We plan to get THIS STUFF together for a bedroom set during the months surrounding Christmas, as our gift to each other. I haven't seen another company like this, one that makes furniture that is easily mistakable for high end stuff, yet costs 30=50% of what the high end stuff costs. We picked up an IKEA piece this weekend for our kitchen. It was INCREDIBLY reasonably priced for our needs. However, the one issue I do have w/ Ikea is the amount of laminated furniture they have, and the laminate's tendancy to chip easily. Of course, you can compare that to how easy most wood items are to scratch these days, so... Now, why is furniture so expensive? Well, raw parts for one thing. There are 2, and only 2, companies that make italian leather sofas, for instance. And leather is not so plentiful as you'd think. One of the companies (De Coro) recently opened a shop in China, where the sweatshop labor prices will greatly reduce the inputs of one of their costs. This has resulted in some much more reasonable leather prices. Still, it ain't cheap. Another raw part you can't underestimate the value of is wood. Let's say you want a solid wood dining table. Well, you'd need two pieces of wood, each on the order of 3 feet (1m) large. How many trees around you have that large a diameter? Regarding the notion that US furniture manufacturers can compete with China, there's NO CHANCE. You can't compete with their labor price, one of the downfalls of globalization and the "flattening world." The only thing a labor-intensive industry in the first world can compete against the 2nd/3rd world on is QUALITY, which is something for which you can always charge more. [ 10-17-2005, 09:46 AM: Message edited by: Timber Loftis ] __________________