Ready-to-Assemble Sofa Answers Call for Inexpensive Furniture

January 25, 2005 -- A custom upholstered sofa in a box for $299? Not possible you say? It is possible with a completely new furniture category: ready-to-assemble (RTA) upholstered furniture. Yes, it is comfortable. No, it is not junk. The fabric isn’t cheesy either—it’s the same quality as some of the best-known brands. And it comes with a 5-year warranty.

For too long, sofa shoppers looking for quality, comfort, value, choice, and convenience have had nowhere to turn. At one end, high priced showrooms and department stores have charged full retail markups, with long waits for special orders and tacked on delivery charges. At the other end, retail discounters have offered either low price or quality, with “a take it or leave it mentality” and little choice in fabric or style. In for the rudest shock of all were those with narrow doors, halls, or stairs when the couches they bought simply didn’t fit or got damaged while lugging them into place.

Home Reserve, a Fort Wayne-based furniture manufacturer sells directly to customers via the Internet, with unheard of choice, savings, convenience, and customer service. Though the people behind Home Reserve have been manufacturing furniture for four generations, including award-winning designs seen on TV shows such as ER and Touched by an Angel, their $299 sofa with custom choice of 60 fabrics is just half the typical $600 to $800 charged in retail showrooms.

The company uses the same fabrics as some of the best-known brands in the country, offering over 60 fabric selections including wool, cotton, acrylic, and the current industry “hottie,” microfiber, noted for its suede-like texture and excellent wear-ability, clean-ability, and anti-staining properties. If you’ve always wanted a leather sofa, check out the Durango Boot choice.

The Home Reserve website allows shoppers to see what the products will look like by clicking on the fabric. “I was able to quickly try on interesting fabrics until I found what I was looking for,” says Brooke Manbeck, an account executive who recently moved into an apartment in Media, Penn. “Unlike sloppy slipcovers, the fabrics all fit precisely,” says Manbeck referring to her couch and chair. “They’re the same or better quality than Lazy Boy.”

Because the line ships by UPS in boxes no heavier than 70 lbs., they’re easily carried up stairs, through narrow doors and halls to their final destinations, for about half the cost of typical delivery. They’re also trackable and quickly delivered within 5 to 10 business days anywhere in the US.

Only a screwdriver is required for assembly, with no glue necessary. The frames are kid tested and certified for strength under a government test program developed by Purdue University. Visit www.homereserve.com/strong.html to view the series of tests the government uses to determine whether furniture can be used on a military base written by the US government.

Home Reserve (www.homereserve.com) also offers a host of unexpected extras such as hidden storage space under the cushions--a single sofa, in fact, can store 65 CDs, 15 videos, 22 books, 3 pillows, 1 blanket, and 10 action heroes safely out of the way--the design flexibility to change fabric at any time along with a fabric exchange program.

SOURCE Home Reserve