Ethan Allen discounts/alternatives???

[kristilew]

Ok, we shouldn't have done it....We never should have gone into the Ethan Allen store on our chair search. We shouldn't have sat in the fabulous chairs. We certainly shouldn't have let the sales girl show us on her computer how the fabulous chairs would look with the fabulous fabric on them.

But we did.

So now, we are left wondering, is there any way to find similar chairs for real-world prices? Are there knock offs out there? Discount codes? Places to find cheap furniture that doesn't look cheap?

Oh, wise budget boarders, surely someone knows?

 

[sarha]

I know the Ethan Allen's in our area, central NJ, have twice a year warehouse sales. We have gotten some beautiful living/dining room furniture there at a fraction of the showroom price.
Ask when the warehouse sales are in your area.

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

We did the same thing and ended up with living room furniture that I love, that matches what we already had without just getting plain beige and has held up really well. I know it is pricey compared to some places, but the sofa especially gets some tough wear in our house and if we had bought something cheaper I think it would have lost some of it's support by now. They do sometimes have sales, and good deals on floor samples too.

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

Forgot to mention that we let the designer come out to our house to show fabric samples, but we said up front only to bring ones up through a certain price range--I didn't want to even see ones that were going to be too expensive. Our sofa could have been way more expensive than it was if we had picked different fabric.

 

[chrissiecutie]

I just had to laugh when I read your post! I used to work at Ethan Allen here in Bellevue, WA (very pricey area) and they are in fact beautiful and expensive pieces. I can tell you though that the quality can't be beat! Everything is handmade and frankly, that just doesn't happen anymore!

However, I can tell you that those "ladies" work on commission and you are a target the moment you enter the door. They have codes for their targets that the nice "receptionist" announces over the loudspeaker the second you walk through that door. The goal of all is to go on a "housecall" where they thoughtfully bring lots of nice pieces you never thought you needed. And most likely didn't! Mainly small accessory things like lamps, vases, bowls in the hopes you just fall in love and buy it on the spot! They are wonderfully skilled at getting you to buy more then you really need.

They do have sales and every store I've encountered has a back clearance room with discontinued or slightly damaged pieces. Truly a great buy if you find something great! They also have some nice promo's, usually in the spring (at least here in WA) that consist of deferred payments or no interest buys when you use an Ethan Allen credit card.

Have fun!

 

[dvcgirl]

I just had to laugh when I read your post! I used to work at Ethan Allen here in Bellevue, WA (very pricey area) and they are in fact beautiful and expensive pieces. I can tell you though that the quality can't be beat! Everything is handmade and frankly, that just doesn't happen anymore!

I have to agree. We're very frugal people for the most part but we have several pieces from Ethan Allen acquired over the years. All of the pieces are beautifully made. We've had a couple of minor issues that needed repair and the service was fabulous.

 

[littlelulu33]

Try this place http://www.homegallery.us/. We found a Table and Chairs at Gormans and it was almost $2500 plus delivery. Which for us having a 2 year old did not want to spend that much knowing that it was going to get beat up/colored on etc in the next several years. They had the exact same one on this website for just less than $600 all I had to do was take in the print out what it was going to cost with delivery which was free and they would match the price.

 

[720L]

We bought furniture from Ethan Allen and got a deal because they were floor samples. There isn't anything wrong with them, they were just used for display.

 

[DisneyMomJen]

I would try Ebay or Craigslist. Alot of our furniture is Ethan Allen. The quality is great and holds up so well. We purchased a sofa from there when we were first married 17 years ago which I had reupholstered and it looks like new. I even have my parents 35 year old club chairs which I had reupholstered and they also look brand new. The fabric was purchased through EA. I bought my Dining Room set from there about 2 years ago. The Ethan Allen Designer came to our house and did not push anything. She gave me such great ideas such as colors for my walls, what molding to do and helped me pick out fabrics. I told her the China Cabinet I wanted was discontinued but found it on Ebay. She seemed very excited for me and even said that if anything is damaged with it that an EA person will come out to fix it for a nominal fee. I also found the buffet server on Ebay in PA, which was not discontinued, just cheaper for me to purchase this way. When I went to pick it up, their whole house was furnished in this same line as my Dining Room. I just thought to myself as I walked through that I want this piece and this piece and this one..... Well, a couple of weeks later they were all on Ebay. I furnished my living room with these pieces. The original owners were in their 60's and moving. All of their furniture was in Brand New condition. Now I am in search for the matching Bedroom Set.
You can't beat the quality of EA. I bought a Stanly Bedroom Set for my daughters and I think the quality is horrible! I can kick myself for purchasing this. I bought Pottery Barn Bedroom sets (at a Pottery Barn Outlet) for my two other kids and the quality is so much better than Stanley, although not EA. Good Luck!

 

[Alice's Mom]

I agree with everyone saying sample sales if there were pieces already made you like.

I hugely lucked out that I came across an Ethan Allen relocating and probably the only person that would fall in love with a pink/yellow/green plaid couch (very shabby chic). Five years later and still spectacular!! I paid $800 for it normally $3000

I later found the perfect chair to match on ebay for $30, the seller never mentioned on the auction it was ethan allen chair, such a steal! I picked it up from a posh home in pasadena...I think they just wanted to get rid of it.

Keep checking back at check at the showroom, ask about sample sales and interest free specials. Also ebay, craigslist and garage sales too.

 

[kristilew]

Thanks, ya'll! Those are some good ideas.

 

[Golf4food]

In spite of being a very distant direct descendant of ole Ethan, you know they won't give me a discount?

 

[pbharris4]

I just had to laugh when I read your post! I used to work at Ethan Allen here in Bellevue, WA (very pricey area) and they are in fact beautiful and expensive pieces. I can tell you though that the quality can't be beat! Everything is handmade and frankly, that just doesn't happen anymore!

However, I can tell you that those "ladies" work on commission and you are a target the moment you enter the door. They have codes for their targets that the nice "receptionist" announces over the loudspeaker the second you walk through that door. The goal of all is to go on a "housecall" where they thoughtfully bring lots of nice pieces you never thought you needed. And most likely didn't! Mainly small accessory things like lamps, vases, bowls in the hopes you just fall in love and buy it on the spot! They are wonderfully skilled at getting you to buy more then you really need.

They do have sales and every store I've encountered has a back clearance room with discontinued or slightly damaged pieces. Truly a great buy if you find something great! They also have some nice promo's, usually in the spring (at least here in WA) that consist of deferred payments or no interest buys when you use an Ethan Allen credit card.

Have fun!

I used to BE the lady who nicely announced the "code" when someone came in at the Ethan Allen store when it opened here in Fredericksburg several years ago. It was pretty slow going for awhile so for 8 hrs a day I got to stare and plan for everything I was going to buy. I also just happened to be building a huge house. They employee disocunt is to die for. I got approximately $22,000 worth of furniture for $11,000 and that was delivered. I got a kitchen table & 6 chairs, my DD's entire bedroom, my entire bedroom, all the study furniture and bookcases, and 2 mattresses. I did not buy any upholstered items because my kids would ruin the fabric so I wanted to wait until they are older. I no longer work there because I didn't care for the boss (who was subsequently fired along with the regional manager as well), but they do have very nice furniture.

If it is something that you will using alot than it's worth the price because it should hold up. If it's not something that is used much then I'd go elsewhere.