Are you literally stuck in the rut of your cushy, oversize power
recliner? If you’re shopping for a sleeker recliner to spruce up the
family room or to replace Dad’s old brown clunker, you’ll find more
power-reclining options and more leather-substitute coverings than you
would have found 4 years ago.
Trapped in an industry slump thanks to the moribund housing market and
the sluggish economy, recliner-makers have introduced models that have
slimmer, straighter and more tailored designs. That’s a turnabout from
the market lineup in 2008, when we observed that overstuffed models were
making a comeback. But all of the furniture experts and manufacturers
with whom we spoke tell us that power recliners are so prevalent now
that the emphasis is on making them as nimble and as sleek as possible.
In fact, manufacturers even are introducing power-reclining elements
into more models of love seats, sectional sets and sofas.
“Today, everyone wants power,” says Don Hunter of Catnapper, which is a recliner brand of Jackson Furniture.
POWERFUL. A big reason why
power recliners have been able to slim down is because the electrical
components that drive power-reclining mechanisms have shrunk so much in
size and price in the past 4 years. A power-reclining mechanism can be
added to most styles of recliners as an option, and a power version can
cost as little as $100 more than the manual version.
That price drop—and an increased interest in creating home theaters
around high-definition TVs in the family room and living room—has turned
power recliners into a major focus of recliner manufacturers in the
past 4 years, says Chip Piekenbrock of manufacturer Flexsteel. For
consumers, this means that they can expect to find about 50 percent more
models of power recliners on the market than were available in 2008.
That’s notable when you consider that the business climate has been so
shaky for furniture-makers that the well-known brand Berkline closed in
2011 and another well-known brand, Barcalounger, went through bankruptcy
in 2010 (but remained open).
Four years ago, power recliners that were marketed for home-theater
rooms that have large-screen HDTVs and elaborate lighting and sound
systems looked like bulky versions of movie-theater seats. But today’s
models are sleek, and they now often come with their own LED mood lights
that are located under the seat. And features that are aimed at a
home-theater audience are coming to lower priced models. You now can
find power recliners that have storage pillows, illuminated cupholders,
touch-control headrests, and coordinating trays and tables that start at
about $900. Recliners that had those features 4 years ago started at
roughly $1,300.
But manufacturers also are bolstering their products. Power-reclining
mechanisms are becoming more rugged, and companies now are willing to
back their power components with a longer warranty. Flexsteel and
Klaussner are the first to include 5-year warranties for all of the
electrical components that are in their motion recliners; typically 1–3
years is the industry norm. No other manufacturer has announced plans to
follow Flexsteel and Klaussner’s lead with a 5-year warranty for
electrical components, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see more
companies extend their warranties in the next year or two.
And Flexsteel and Palliser now sell cordless battery units—typically a
$299 option—to operate any of the power recliners that are in their
lines. Having a battery unit allows you to place your power recliner
anywhere in your home; it doesn’t have to be near an outlet. The
rechargeable power packs work for 200–300 cycles of opening and closing,
which means that they’ll work for up to 50 days based on average use
before you need to recharge the power pack. The power pack beeps, like a
cordless phone does, when it has to be plugged into an outlet to
recharge. This is useful, so you can avoid getting stuck in your chair
by a dead battery.
RELAX AND BE WELL. It
shouldn’t be a surprise that the demand for power recliners has
increased as the baby boomer generation entered its golden years. But
companies aren’t aiming just at seniors.
“For young people in their 20s accustomed to power everything, there is
a coolness in power furnishings,” says Lynne Schipp of Kittle’s
Furniture, which is a retailer in Indianapolis.
LEATHER SOARS. The rising price of
leather means that today’s leather recliners are $200 more expensive
than they were a year ago.
We wouldn’t go so far as to say recliners are hip and happening, but
they certainly can do more than they could 4 years ago. For example,
American Leather has a model in a new collection that’s called Comfort
Recliner ($5,200) that uses a unique, nonpowered weight-balanced
mechanism that allows you to glide the recliner to any angle simply by
leaning on the chair back without having to push on the arms. Unlike
other recliners that are on the market, the back and the footrest work
independently and can slide into an unlimited number of positions.
Four years ago, power-bed chaise recliners cost about $2,000. But
Franklin now offers a power-bed chaise recliner that unfolds into a bed
that has a memory-foam topper for $599, and a growing number of similar
recliners are being built for people who have mobility problems but want
more-mainstream styling. Four years ago, these chaise recliners were
drab and overstuffed and looked like the sort of thing that you would
find in a hospital room. But the new ones that we’ve seen in the past 2
years are much sleeker and actually can match the furniture in a modern
or traditional living room.
Speaking of recliners that are pitched toward health issues, you might
notice La-Z-Boy advertising its endorsement by American Chiropractic
Association (ACA). In 2011, La-Z-Boy became the second recliner
manufacturer to be so endorsed. (Premium recliner manufacturer Ekornes
is the other.) That might sound good, but you should keep in mind that
La-Z-Boy paid a fee to ACA to get this endorsement, and La-Z-Boy’s
chairs didn’t meet any independent criteria to win the ACA label. In
other words, the endorsement is nothing more than a marketing tool. As
recliner manufacturers continue to aim at consumers who have health
issues, we expect to see more companies use similar marketing ploys to
try to lure buyers.
LESS LEATHER. Besides power
mechanisms, we also have seen a lot of innovation in recliner fabric.
In the past 12 months, leather prices have risen faster because of
global supply-and-demand imbalances than they have in the past 10 years,
says Mike Delgatti, who is president of Hooker Upholstery. That means
that today’s leather recliners are as much as $200 more expensive than
they were a year ago, whereas a price jump of $30–$40 is more typical.
And it also means that a recliner that has full authentic leather is
more difficult to find among today’s economy and midrange recliners.
“At one time, we showed eight to 10 leather chairs, but this [year], I
have just one new introduction, and it is at the upper end for
$699–$799, depending upon the quality of leather,” says Chuck Tidwell,
who is vice president of Franklin.
Franklin is typical of all of the other manufacturers with which we
spoke. The high prices have sent manufacturers looking for leather
alternatives to keep their recliner prices the same, because an
estimated 30 percent to 40 percent of sales over the past 5 years have
been recliners that have leather covers.
As a result, now you’ll find a lot of mostly vinyl recliners that have
leather “everywhere the body touches,” which means the seat, back
cushion and inside of the chair arm. We believe that the technology to
match the color and look of leather and vinyl has become quite good in
the past 4 years, and we found that it now sometimes is difficult to
discern the difference between the two coverings. What’s better is that
we also found that the latest recliners that have these
alternative-leather coverings feel like real leather. However, you
should be aware that even if they appear to be a close match, the
leather and vinyl might not age and fade at the same rate, so you could
end up with two-tone furniture in a few years, depending on how much
sunlight that your recliner absorbs. Also, from what we’ve seen of
leather-and-vinyl furniture, the seams where the two coverings are
joined are often frayed and look like they would be susceptible to
tearing.
Consumers also will find more widespread use of bonded leather, which
is a synthetic fabric that was introduced 5 years ago to approximate the
look and feel of leather in economy recliners.
Bonded leather actually includes little leather; it’s made by grinding up leather shavings and spraying them with an adhesive onto a backing.
Bonded leather looked shiny and garish when it arrived in the market,
and we found that it often faded and separated. But the latest
bonded-leather fabrics come in a variety of styles, and the experts with
whom we spoke say fabric mills seem to have solved the fading and
separation issues. That’s a comforting development.
