Executive Living - Sofa

[romeo78 0]

Dear Laoyao64

I would like to stress the fact that leather, being organic materials needs maintaineence as will. You have to oil your leather once at least every 2 months. You might want to get the cost effective ones at the petrol kiosks. Geniune Leather will not peel, however it will crack and flak. Even premium leather if not maintained properly will not last beyond 5 years. Therefore, Please oil your leather at least once every 2 months to prolong the grace and comfort of your beloved sofa. In order to sell leather sofas in EL, we need to have the passion for the very piece of furniture itself. The conviction to take good care of your sofa which can serve you well for years to come will be rewarding. We offer 5 years warranty against our stichings and 10 years warranty for structural damages. Our warranty cards spells everything out explicitly, you might want to see them personally.You are always welcome to visit our showroom. Thank you and have a nice day!

I hope that answers your questions!

what type of oil to maintain the leather? and where shall i get the oil from?

[SamTheMan 7]

what type of oil to maintain the leather? and where shall i get the oil from?

The best to buy is Leather Master, it is called a leather care kit, available at all good DIY stores.

[SamTheMan 7]

Honestly which layman will go to understand the term "top grain", "cow" or animal codes out there since layman do not get to see the process of slaughtering,etc

We layman knows only cow milk (at least our AVA super good and ensure public confidence).

Now i am not saying who is more knowledgeable on the "materials" used here.

How about giving brand names so layman can easily "perceive" the brandname ?

For example in IT Tablets, we can say Apple is the pioneer and innovate so layman can easily see the "best" of it. However Apple do not tell us what complicated parts it use inside for most layman can never understand !.

For sofas, is there a real-leather brand names out there ? Eg da-vinci, etc in ascending order ? This way those who buy bottom down the list need not pay a high-con price of it. Those we pay the premiums at the top level knows the "quality is surely there".

Does anyone knows the list or each retailers are just advertising ?

Hi Kalimantan,

Furniture unlike technology is highly fragmented because the barriers to entry is not high. It is actually very easy for anyone to start a sofa factory. There are literally thousands of manufacturers for sofas all over the world which is why this forum is very useful for consumers to share their experiences. I will just provide you a list of retailer broken down into the tiers for your reference:

Top Tier Retailers, European Products usually of outstanding quality:

Space, Marquis, Proof Living, Xtra, Molteni and Co, Minotti

LeMercier's (note, LeMercier's carries top tier and mid tier brands so big price range)

Mid Tier Retailers, may be mix of Asian and European Products, quality reasonably good:

Natuzzi(note, Natuzzi is a mass-market Italian brand so quality not as good as the top tier, but cheaper),

XZQT, Lifestorey, OM, Lorenzo, HTL, Domicil, Harvey Norman, Castilla, Furniture Club (FC Homes)

Mass Market Retailers, usually Asian products

IKEA, Novena, Cellini, Nova, Star Furniture Group

There are still many more retailers out there, but the above are the better known ones. Good luck with your shopping

[kalimantan 6]

Hi Kalimantan,

Furniture unlike technology is highly fragmented because the barriers to entry is not high. It is actually very easy for anyone to start a sofa factory. There are literally thousands of manufacturers for sofas all over the world which is why this forum is very useful for consumers to share their experiences. I will just provide you a list of retailer broken down into the tiers for your reference:

Top Tier Retailers, European Products usually of outstanding quality:

Space, Marquis, Proof Living, Xtra, Molteni and Co, Minotti

LeMercier's (note, LeMercier's carries top tier and mid tier brands so big price range)

Mid Tier Retailers, may be mix of Asian and European Products, quality reasonably good:

Natuzzi(note, Natuzzi is a mass-market Italian brand so quality not as good as the top tier, but cheaper),

XZQT, Lifestorey, OM, Lorenzo, HTL, Domicil, Harvey Norman, Castilla, Furniture Club (FC Homes)

Mass Market Retailers, usually Asian products

IKEA, Novena, Cellini, Nova, Star Furniture Group

There are still many more retailers out there, but the above are the better known ones. Good luck with your shopping

WEll done ! You are the man !

At least people who wish to buy knows what price range from the list of top-tier to bottom down. The list is like properties, listing from Orchard Road, Nassim, etc all the way to some hdb sites with no mrt. Therefore people can easily make purchase based on certain brands, etc

[ladywindermere 0]

chanced upon this site when i was looking at types of leather.

http://www.planumfurniture.com/leather/leather-description/trend-grade-a/

This furniture shop explains the different nomenclature of the different types of leather ..

help to explain that "top grain" doesn't mean "best" leather - it's actually been processed and emobossed.. etc etc

hope this will help those who are confused about the types of leather that salespeople talk about..

[marcbovell 0]

chanced upon this site when i was looking at types of leather.

http://www.planumfurniture.com/leather/leather-description/trend-grade-a/

This furniture shop explains the different nomenclature of the different types of leather ..

help to explain that "top grain" doesn't mean "best" leather - it's actually been processed and emobossed.. etc etc

hope this will help those who are confused about the types of leather that salespeople talk about..

Food for thought.

People who post here can actually verify from the website of what the sales people 'sales talk' you about. It is really up to you to do your homework and check if what they tell you is the truth. Go to the company website, go to the brand website, or google it. The answers are all there in the world wide web.

Eventually, no matter how many years warranty is promise, the question is, will these company be still around after 2 years or so. They can just simply change their company's name. What 15years warranty, if the company has been around for the last 15 years, maybe we still can trust them for the warranty for the next 15 years.

[hotstuff 0]

Just another sales talk.....from another sales guy? How sure are you that others arent learning like you in the process? Or even better than you? Accusing other doesn't make you honest. So how the **** we know you're not one of them??

Dear Kalimantan

I took great pains to ensure that consumers do not get conned by rogue traders. many of the sales person here are poorly trained. They do not even know what they are selling. This ha been the industry practice for years. I put in effort to learn about the different types of leather and source for quality products, despite the fact that we are losing market share becasue we are adamant about the products that we market. I do not want people to think that our products are over priced. That is the reason why I put in effort to educate the consumers. At the very least let them know whta they are paying for when they patronises Executive Living. We always believe in value for money, many people think that leather is just leather, whether they buy leather sofa from A company or B company, its all the same except for the difference in pricing. The more we educate our consumers, the less likely that they will be overcharged. eventually, they will understand what is leathet sofa all about. Sad to say many of the clients that I met asked me about the thickness of the leather, in their opinion, the thicker it is the better. However is this really the case that thickeris better? Arent we more concern about what the leather comes from? How is the tanning done? what grade of leather are they looking at? Its all misconception that rogue traders in this industry had instil. That is why many of them regretted their purchase, they felt cheated, shortchanged after a few months when the prodcuts starts to show their defects. They pass this bad experience to people who wanted to have honest dealings, who offer geniune products. However they are sceptical as they have been bitten once and twice shy. That is the reason why we exists, we exists because of business and we exists because its passion, we love our clients, we love our products and we love the thrill of seeing a satisfaied customers walking through our doors again looking for coffee table and other furniture. That is our Mission.

You mentioned Da vinci, may I asked, how many people can afford or rather are willing to spluge on a piece of sofa set there? Its all different market segmentation. In EL we are trying to give our consumers value for money by offering products which are of quality materials. Our motorised units for our sofas are from Legend Plate (USA).we believe in quality over quantity.Most importantly, pricing. we believe in fair and affordable pricing which caters to a discerning few. With the faith and trust of our clients we are able to thrive this far, especailly the APEC fair which ended on the 22nd May 2011. We had overwhelming response and I would again like to give a Big thank you to Romeo and all those who had supported us.

[bellyheng 0]

The best to buy is Leather Master, it is called a leather care kit, available at all good DIY stores.

After applying leather care, will they stain clothing when we sit on them?

[ugene512 0]

Dear Hotstuff

I think you misunderstood the whole process, Never did I accuse anyone or in any way imply that I am better. I am not selling anything online and I do not see the need to do sales talk. I merely share what I know and if you doubted me, you can always prove me wrong.If I am wrong, I learnt something from others. Sometimes, some people don't learn beacuse their ego is too big for their brains to absorb anything further.

i think this is a very good move EL, to have an account in renotalk to answer questions and doubts we have. I believe this also give us a chance to review your products and at the same time for you to rectify any problems you may not aware like delivery problems or product damage. This would serves as a advertisting channel however it is a double edge sword as a wrong move may costs your reputation , but if you are true to every customers i believe the forumers will support you ya..

Keep it up!

Renotalkers -> Cut EL some slack ... for i believe it took courage and heart to actually come up to forums to answer questions and provide service which some company dare not. Internet are very powerful nowadays so an online support it very cool and it benefit us!!

[MingzhuAng 0]

After applying leather care, will they stain clothing when we sit on them?

i think there are a type of leather care for cars. My brother had one, and he sprayed on his car seats to maintain them.. And it does not stain clothes.. As i often wear white shorts or shirt when he gave me lifts, just that it got a little slippery.. especially, my brother does sharp turn, i will move from one seat to another at the back car seats, since sometimes i don't put on seat belts.

[romy77 0]

Hi Ladywindermere

There is no classification for best leather, different kind of leather are meant for different purposes and different preference. Ultimately it boils down to dollars and cents. the link mentioned above is from Furniture Club. Most of their sofas are China made. Top grain is the most commonly used leather for cushions abd backrests portion, it has to be corrected in order to remove the natural scars and blemishes. Some tanneries are well known for their tanning expertise, therefore, it is very important to know where does your leather comes from.

The normal industry jargon will be cowhide, but cowhide is not leather, leather is processed cowhide. You do not call tyres latex do you? leather has to be split from cowhide, tanned and dyed to achieve optimum results for the end product.

Semi aniline leather is the most sought after leather that most people are looking for. Aniline is a kind of colourless dye added during the tanning process to make the leather soft and supple.

I hope that my post helps. Thank you.

so can yoy simply tell us where your sofa is manufacture and what kind of leather you use.

[SamTheMan 7]

Hi Romy

We are using Brazilian Cowhide that is process in Tuscany, you might want to call it Tuscan Leather. Motorised unit from Legend Plate, USA. Solid Meranti wood which is treated and kiln specially to retain 12 to 18% of the moisture to prevent warping. All sofas that Executive Living presents are assembled in Malaysia. Backed by 4 factories which are scatter over KL and Ipoh, we do export to Americas and Europe as well as Australiasia as well. I hope that answers your questions.

Hi are your mechanisms from Leggett and Platt or Legend Plate?

[SamTheMan 7]

Hi Sam

Its Legend Plate, you can google it.

Don't have leh, anyway never mind just curious because most sofas use leggett and platt mechanisms.

[tankenz 0]

Mr Executiveliving , to be very honest im very impress by the way you reply and answer in this reno forum. very professional thumbs up for you.

but sincerely how real is those things you mention about leather and mech is use by EL ? im curious only no hard feelings.

[LionMetal 0]

Recently I visited the Singapore Expo Asia pacific Furniture Fair which was held on the 14th May 2011.My wife and I was searching for a new sofa and other item for our new condo.

On the very day, I bring along my uncle, aunty to seek some advices from them.

The moment I walk into the floor of the exhibition hall, my wife saw this booth which display very nice leather sofa named Executive Living. I recalled that I have visited their showroom which is located at Tai Seng Harper Road 1 months ago. From my own info gathered, I discovered that this company is pretty new in this furniture trade. They do display very attractive leather sofa set in their showroom when I visited them.

We decided to step into their booth and try their sofa since my wife show interest in their design. A sales guy immediately attended to us and I recognize that it is the same guy who served me at Harper Road showroom. He had introduced himself as a boss of Executive Living during my last visit to their showroom.

Out of sudden, my uncle and his wife whisper into my ear and inform us to leave the booth when this so called boss appeared.

I was quite astonished. I asked my uncle why and what had happen?

Both my uncle and aunty reply me that this guy looks very familiar. The fact is both my uncle and aunty had been shopping for furniture for their tenant since they leased a few of their property .They informed me that this guy had been company hopping in furniture trade almost all Singapore furniture shop. For example :- Beng Hwa Group at IMM , Mr Décor , Winter Group and many other companies ????

My uncle related to me an incident which happens on him about 8-9 years ago. He had purchased a furniture packages at the Singapore Expo and place a full deposit of almost $5K.One month after his purchased, the company wind up. He lost his full deposit of $5K and felt cheated. My uncle told me the furniture company is named Century …something... ??? The important part is that the boss of Executive Living resemblance the same boss who is from Century furniture.

In my heart, I hoped that not the same person because my wife and I really like one of their leather sofa. By the way , did anyone come across this problem before and heard of this furniture company named Century something ????