Flexsteel exit

[CoreyinWP]

Flexsteel Announces Exit from RV Furniture Business - RVBusiness - Breaking RV Industry News

RVBusiness - Breaking RV Industry News Flexsteel Announces Exit from RV Furniture Business Today’s Industry News

rvbusiness.com

 

[Jabber Jaw]

Wow! That seemed like a quick decision! I see this as a tremendous negative impact on Class A owners,especially with all the furniture covering issues folks have been having; Newmar in particular.
No wonder Newmar announced the new "Williamsburg" furniture for the Canyon Star & Mountain Aire. Could have been a couple other models too, just don't remember!
Makes me wonder about "parts support" down the road; from Flexsteel & Newmar as well!

 

[Jim]

Wow! That seemed like a quick decision! I see this as a tremendous negative impact on Class A owners,especially with all the furniture covering issues folks have been having; Newmar in particular.
No wonder Newmar announced the new "Williamsburg" furniture for the Canyon Star & Mountain Aire. Could have been a couple other models too, just don't remember!
Makes me wonder about "parts support" down the road; from Flexsteel & Newmar as well!

Perhaps they're leaving because Newmar has decided they had enough of FlexSteel's quality issues? Losing a couple of accounts like Newmar might very well take the profit out of the RV division.

 

[Neal]

I agree with @Jim as there have been so many issues since 2015 I believe with flaking upholstery. Any business that had to endure quality issues such as this would and should seek another supplier. And it seems pretty frictionless now that if the problem arises Newmar replaces everything as if they have Flexsteel by the noose that if this occurs it's on them. I don't know if it's because Newmar orders a poor quality level or if Flexsteel's supplier which sounds like China or some foreign provider is not one that supplies anything that lasts. I'm preaching to the choir, it's not how to run a business. If you can't do it right you shouldn't do it. Sad for those involved and affected but I'd venture to share my emotion that this is good for future buyers not to have this issue any longer, I hope!

 

[BGMAC]

I will tell you this. in my coach I had the same issues.

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

Since Newmar is now using Villa in some of its coach models, maybe it is consolidating suppliers. With all the issues it has had to with Flexsteel furniture, that would be no surprise.

The Flexsteel announcement had a pretty vague feel to it in my perception. Flexsteel's reason for exiting the RV furniture market didn't provide much specificity on what their new target market is. Sounded to me like a CYA statement by a company that just bot dumped by its major customer due to quality issues.

TJ

 

[AbdRahim]

I believe Williamsburg had the same issues.

 

[CoreyinWP]

I believe Entegra switched over to all Villa

 

[NWIP]

Interesting announcement as Newmar has agreed to replace all my furniture coach due to the ongoing issue material flaking. This condition has been going on for over 5 years and still not resolved. I don’t know how this is profitable for Flexsteel as they have to cover the cost of replacement or Newmar as they have the labor cost of replacing. Now I have to wonder what happens when the new furniture has an issue?

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

Interesting announcement as Newmar has agreed to replace all my furniture coach due to the ongoing issue material flaking. This condition has been going on for over 5 years and still not resolved. I don’t know how this is profitable for Flexsteel as they have to cover the cost of replacement or Newmar as they have the labor cost of replacing. Now I have to wonder what happens when the new furniture has an issue?

Interesting point, Bill. I think I would raise it with Newmar and ask if they would replace with Villa furniture instead.

TJ

 

[NWIP]

@TJ&LadyDi I plan on having a discussion about that but not real optimistic. When I did build sheet back last year I asked about getting Villa as their recliners fit tall people better and I was told not a chance. I think it’s one of those things Newmar does for model distinction.

 

[MapNerd]

Okay so I need my furniture to start flaking sometime within the next 5 and a half months.

 

[Neal]

Okay so I need my furniture to start flaking sometime within the next 5 and a half months.

I think if it happens, ever, Newmar will handle it. They've had enough of this and I think it's all on Flexsteel in the end.

 

[MapNerd]

We were actually already thinking about replacing it or having it reupholstered with top grain leather in 2-3 years. Cream was a bad choice for young kids. There’s some spots that just won’t come clean. We expected it to be a little more stain resistant than it is.

Not too worried about it in the end.

 

[BGMAC]

We were actually already thinking about replacing it or having it reupholstered with top grain leather in 2-3 years. Cream was a bad choice for young kids. There’s some spots that just won’t come clean. We expected it to be a little more stain resistant than it is.

Not too worried about it in the end.

We reupholstered our captain’s chairs. Not top grain since we did it ourselves for the first time. We bought remnants for A total of $30. Not the best job, but it feels and looks better than it did.

 

[MapNerd]

Nice job @BGMAC . That came out really well.
We’re still a ways out from doing it and would only do so if we plan to keep the coach for a long time. Kind of waiting for them to get so stained or torn up that we can’t look at them anymore.

Right now it’s sort of the situation where we know it’s there and it bothers us, but no one else does unless we point it out to them.

Currently, we think we somehow lucked out and bought our last coach first, or at least one that we’re going to drive til the wheels fall off. Assuming we still feel that way 2-3 years from now, we’ll bite the bullet and have a shop do it.

 

[Neal]

@MapNerd my boat had light colored upholstery and I'm OCD and hated keeping it clean. I changed the upholstery color in my VTDP for this reason, wish I would have stayed with the creme color though, it would look better but then again, that OCD problem. I could never get the leather cleaned but my detailer did. He used a mix of oxy and water I think it was. I also used a magic eraser at times, some say it can be a little abrasive to use caution, but it's an option. I'm no expert in cleaning anything!

 

[MapNerd]

@Neal oxy is a good thought. I was also going to look into getting a small steam cleaner that would work for leather. Maybe that would help too. Magic Eraser is an interesting idea as well. Can’t hurt so we’ll give it a shot.

If I were smart, I would have bought a couple cans of leather scotch guard and sprayed em down on day zero.

 

[MapNerd]

Stumbled across this video today. The google box always knows what’s on my mind. I don’t know that I’d do it but it was certainly an interesting watch...

 

[NWIP]

“Interesting announcement as Newmar has agreed to replace all my furniture coach due to the ongoing issue material flaking. This condition has been going on for over 5 years and still not resolved. I don’t know how this is profitable for Flexsteel as they have to cover the cost of replacement or Newmar as they have the labor cost of replacing. Now I have to wonder what happens when the new furniture has an issue?“

UPDATE-I was informed that with Flexsteel’s departure from RV business, Newmar is looking for alternative to fill their orders. Once Newmar makes a final decision they will advise me of my options in having furniture replaced. Looks like replacing with Flexsteel is no longer an option which doesn’t really bother me.