I have a couch and two chairs that I'm happy with. Also have a leather ottoman that hasn't held up well.

We have an Ethan Allen bedroom set, dining table and chairs, and sofa and chair/ottoman set that my husband has had for about 15 years. It has stood up to the wear and tear my husband can put on furniture, plopping down, pushing arms when getting up, etc. The upholstery looks as good as new, the style is classic and still looks good after all this time. When we were looking for new furniture we went to Ethan Allen and I was not impressed with most of what they carried. It "looked" good, but parts of some sofas sunk down at edges or back corners, arms gave way if pushing on to get up. There were a couple of pieces that seemed fine and maybe bedroom and dining room furniture would be fine, but I was concerned about the quality of their sofas and chairs.

I have had my EA sofa for 15 years. It is, by far, the most comfortable couch I have ever owned. My family fights about who gets to nap on it!
I don't know what their quality is like now, but it is definitely worth checking out.

We have a bedroom set and a number of other cabinets from Ethan Allen. They are beautiful! However, a few years back we added a sunroom to our home and ordered their outdoor wicker. The construction of the pieces is fine, but the upholstery looked shabby in about 6 months. They did send someone out and confirmed that the cushions should have held up better, but they offered to replace them AT COST. We couldn't quite believe that they would expect us to pay a second time, so we resigned ourselves to accept them as they are for a few years and then plan to pay someone else to make us a set of quality cushions. Good Luck!

older EA = great

newer EA = not so great

That's what my friends with EA tell me!

Let's just say that DH is quite familiar w/ fixing EA dining room chairs on a regular basis at work. Ditto what PP said about old EA vs. new EA.

I don't have any experience with their upholstered furniture but I have bought various tables from EA. For some reason, I can always find what I am looking for style wise there. I feel they have held up fairly well. My Medallion Console Table in the foyer is about 12 years old. I have 3 others that are 6 years old. I am happy with them and get many compliments.

As far as sofa's are concerned, I don't believe theirs have coil springs which is important for wear. So, if you are planning on spending a couple of grand or more you may want to reconsider. JMHO

I used to work there. When everything was made here in the US the quality was much better. Now they import a lot of items from China as do many other furniture companies. The old was good; the new EA not so good.
I have tables from 30 years ago and being solid maple they have held up very well. The sofas used to be 8 way hand tied glued and screwed frames - we were trained to discuss this with customers. Not sure what they are now.

Shop around for sure.

Well I did some shopping around at Ethan Allen this weekend and have to say I find them to be awful store! Here was my experience in case anyone is curious or would like to same themselves the same effort:

*was quoted a price at one EA store of 3200 for a couch. Very overpriced, and salesman acted baffled that this was the case. Was told we could receive 10% rebate if paid in cash. Then we were told we would not be able to receive this pricing since our delivery location was outside the radius of this store's delivery zone.

*called store closer to our actual hosue and told no 10% off because they were a "corporate store" and the store we had spoken to was privately owned. She actually said to me "we do not get involved in basement bargain hunting". So insulting, plus in this market they should be kissing the ground customers walk on! I reminded her the quote I received was from the SAME store (ethan allen) and SAME exact product and that it's not my problem that there is this private vs. corporate store competition that leads to different quotes!

*requested her exact price quote so I could compare apples to apples. She tells me she cannot give me a quote over the phone and I have to come in. Obviously giving me attitude. With a baby and work--I'm not about to be going into the store every time I want a price quote! She finally relented and grilled me for name/number claiming people often give fake numbers.

I am now completely turned off by the store and will not be buying from them.

I think their case goods are good quality. I can't see spending that kind of money on upholstered pieces given the way we use our upholstered furniture in my home (dog, 3 year old, feet up, eating in front of the TV, etc.)
We buy the best case goods (dining room set, bedroom sets, tables, wall units)we can afford because we view them as things you buy once. We buy less expensive couches because we know that every 5-6 years or so we will be ready to replace them.

Janine, I think you're wise to continue to shop around. I did business with EA about 10 years ago, and it was such a terrible experience, customer-service wise, that I vowed never again.

This has little to do with EA's sofas, but I took a series of wood working classes from master wood workers that teach fine carpentry at a local college. The work that this group of instructors did would make you drool- it was so beautiful. They use EA as an example of poor quality wood working because of the techniques EA uses to make furniture look good as opposed to being good.
Diane

I bought a tight-backed leather Ethan Allen sofa about 5 years ago, I think I paid $2600 for it. The leather is "family friendly". So far through two rowdy kids and a big dog, the sofa is holding up really well. Nothing is ripped, sagging, or wiggly, and the leather wipes clean - I feel like it was worth the purchase. Before I bought it, I spoke with someone at the company and pressed for details - the sofa was made in one of their factories in the US (South Carolina maybe), and the leather is from Brazil. The saleswoman I worked with came out to my house (over an hour away to measure everything for me, and do room plans). She was super sweet, and did not pressure me to buy other things. The biggest downside was that it took a good 3 months for it to arrive (I was told it may take that long). I also have a Mitchell Gold "sofette" (slipcovered) and I am still happy with it, but it gets a lot less abuse than the EA sofa does.

I see you have moved on, I donÂt blame you. Years ago I visited an EA looking for a dining room . The sales people were very snooty and I wasnÂt treated nicely at all.. guess I forgot to wear my fur and diamonds.. lol I went to Thomasville and was treated wonderful. I became a loyal costumer and purchased many pieces from them. Since, they have changed their style and I do not like it any longer. The furniture I have from them has held up beautiful. Forgot to mention, the sales person once worked at EA and told me their quality has degraded and it was not what they use to be.

Agree with others about old/good vs. now/bad. Very bad.

EA has changed ownership and I won't even go there but suffice it to say you reached the right conclusion.

We have a lot of EA furniture from the Tango collection. Armoire is holding up well. Dining room table- the finish scratches VERY easily. It looks like scratches on the finish, not on the wood itself. I had them out here. This was just after I bought it. They guy told me that the scratches would sort of blend into a patina after a while. NOT.

What a shame, but I'm not surprised. I'm very skeptical of new furniture.

Way back in the 70s I dated an upholsterer. His advice to me was "Never buy new furniture. Find something old and sturdy that you like in a thrift store, get that, and have it reupholstered." He went on and on about how the older furniture was good quality and the newer furniture was poor quality -- and that was long before we were importing everything from China. Naturally, not all old pieces were well built, but your odds of finding an old piece that is well built beat the heck out of your odds of finding a new one that is. If it's survived for many years intact, it will probably keep going.

That's one of the reasons I love antiques. Another one is that they tend to appreciate, whereas today's new furniture from most (not all) stores will probably depreciate.

This last one looks like SPAM to me...........what yucky looking stuff anyhow.
Ethan Allen was so good 30 or so yrs. ago, I have several pieces of wood and they have held up quite well. On the furniture forum I do believe there are a couple of much better quality upholstered chairs/sofas talked about, one being Lee and I don't remember the others. I know they were talking about ordering from NC or maybe it was SC where so much is made, quite a savings too. I always was one to buy the very best quality I could afford and with five children, I never had a piece of furniture fail me. I always got middle of the road at that time. Best of luck with your furniture adventure, that's a lot of money so you had better be darn sure, not just by how it looks on the outside.

My dining room table, chairs, and china hutch are from Ethan Allen. I love them. However, they were purchased 25 years ago.

Three Grad, I thought EA was being made in India now. I saw the CEO on Neil Cavuto talking about a couple years ago. Perhaps they have sold subsequently to a company that has the furniture made in China, or maybe it is farmed out to several countries, like most everything else. LOL. I was looking at some shoes, high-end name brand (but not Jimmy Choo, not that high end) and a size 8.5 was the first I tried on and it was made in China. The 7.5 was made in Indonesia. I came home (and have several pairs from that same company) and found one pair made in Brazil but most made in China after 1996.

Older Ethan Allen is good. The new stuff is crap. We recently bought a dining table and chairs that are falling apart 6 months later. We contacted the store and they are very unhelpful.

I bought a Bennett sectional December 2010. In the last 4 months, the cushions have developed a dip. I contacted Ethan Allen and the sofa warranty was up in 5 years. I am past that by 10 months. So I asked if I could buy new cushions, they no longer make them. I love EA but am not impressed with the sectional. However, the wood pieces we have, we love. Along with a Devonshire chair that is 10 years old.

My Bennett sofa is older than that and the seat cushions are in perfect shape. Do you mean the back cushions? They do tend to dip but rotating them frequently helps.