Is Ethan Allen a high quality company?

Ethan Allen is an excellent company. Overall, their upholstered furniture is similar in quality to a Bradington Young.

 

Until 20 years ago, "high end"upholstered furniture was defined by its solid hardwood frames and 8 way hand-tied foundations. That is no longer the case.

 

Other types of frames and foundations last almost as long and cost far less. When combined with thick foam or spring down cushions, the comfort advantages of 8 way hand-tied suspensions are negligible. 

 

The reason I left Ethan Allen out of my blog article, is that it specifically reviews American reclining sofa and sectional brands. Ethan Allen makes very few larger "motion" pieces.

 

Ethan Allen does offer a few "inclining" sofas. Inclining mechanisms work differently than reclining mechanisms. They are simpler and probably more durable. But they "feel" different.

 

Incliners have never been popular over the past 50 years, since they were first introduced. But if you have tried one of Ethan Allen's inclining sofas and liked it, there should not be any problems.

 

I can understand Ethan Allen's reluctance to compete in the reclining sofa and sectional niche of the furniture marketplace.

 

Although this is the single fastest growing furniture category over the past decade, it also has the highest percentage of consumer complaints. Reclining chairs have far fewer complaints than the larger pieces.

 

Ethan Allen was one of my clients in the 1980s. I sold millions of dollars of Ethan Allen furniture to U.S. employees working overseas for the State Department and other government agencies.

 

I worked directly with Farooq Kathwari, who now is the top person at Ethan Allen. I can easily see him making a decision not to make or sell furniture products that are known to generate high numbers of customer complaints, even if that means sacrificing sales and profits.

 

The photo shown above is Ethan Allen's Conor Leather Inclining Sofa.