You can get any leather put on any H&M piece.

Kodiak is a program series grouping (as are Austin and City) which means they have promotional pricing - but you don't have to buy in the promo leathers.

Document Saddle is the Married Cover hide in Kodiak. That means its the 'feature' price leather. You can buy any other Document series leather (Class II hide -33 flavors in Document) but it will be about 20% more. You can also go to the handle and select any leather, but it will be even more expensive.

For example, here's how I price it:

Kodiak Sofa in Document Saddle : $ 2,199
Kodiak Sofa in any other Document: $ 2,599
Kodiak Sofa in any Class II Hide: $ 3,040

The only difference is in the hides. Clearly you can see the cost advantages by going with the Promotional leathers. The best part is, Document is NOT a cheap, entry-level hide. Its a nice leather and one of H&M's mainstay products, has a supple hide, good colors, and easy to clean with kids.

Cushions are a matter of personal preference. I myself (as well as Jimmy Moore, owner of H&M) prefer the standard cushions.

-Duane Collie
The Keeping Room

Duane,
Thank you for that info. They gave us a ring of Document leather sample colors. I thought I understood we could choose any of them without a price increase. There are about 20 colors on the ring. They all have Class II on the back label. Do you know if it's accurate that we can choose any of these without an increase or only some of the colors? We actually liked the Saddle sample best, but I believe the floor model was in Bark. I'll have to call back & double check with the store if you know there are only a few married colors in case we decide we like another color on the ring in today's lighting. Also, what is the standard cushion? Is that the down wrapped foam or just foam? Do you find the Kodiak to be good for taller owners?
Thank you so much! This is a big investment, and I'm sorry we don't have a wider selection to actually sit on and see. With 2 little ones, it's not likely we'll be able to travel to a retailer with more selections, but we really do like the Kodiak.
Thank you, too, for a previous response about a Haverty's leather sofa. It definitely made me research more, and the sales lady we spoke with about the Kodiak was impressed with the little bits of info. I had learned here!
Cindy

Hi Cindy,

The way the program "Town and Country" in H&M works, is that one leather is what they call "married cover", and thats Document Saddle. There are no other "married cover" colors for Kodiak other than that one.

A few years ago, that meant that leather was cut and sewn in China in quantity, and then shipped over here in kit form. So when an order came in, they would pick a frame, pull the kit and then upholster it. Quick and fast, and because the labor to cut and sew was done in China, cheaper than US labor. Many companies do this, not just H&M.

However, the flies in ointment soon became apparent, and its called Quality Control. Retailers such as myself could - and did - see a less-than-satisfactory variance from items that were scratch-built and fully upholstered in North Carolina. We would see brand marks, insect bites, urine stains, neck wrinkles and the like sewn into the prominent parts of the piece and complained.

Most companies just shrug their shoulders and say 'Hey, you want cheaper prices, that's what you have to live with'. Well, H&M is privately held and not beholden to a corporate entity, and Jimmy Moore and Jack Glasheen (owners) saw that their reputation as one of the best in the industry was being compromised by these Quality Control faults and the Chinese just were not responsive, so they pulled out of any off-shore kit making.

Now everything is done in their Hickory North Carolina facilities. However, they can still offer economies of scale so they buy a large quantity of one leather (Document Saddle in this case) and have the kits made there on-site. Quality Control went way-way up and I have no issue with married cover from H&M (I've been told by many a supplier I am too critical, however!)

They also realize that not everyone wants Saddle color, so they buy large lots of Document for this and other frames to try to get the piece price-friendly. Hence the better price in the whole Document line.

They should have (33) Document Colors on the ring, not (20)! Document is a Class II hide, so its accurate to have that on the label.

Your local store has to 'buy into' the Town and Country Promo, which they may or may not have to get that structure I outlined. Prices are the ones I set for Garden Web folks (Shipping is additional), and not every store has that price structure or is obligated to sell at those prices. They may also not be aware of the whole H&M Promotional price structure - its a bit complex.

Standard Cushions are a Qualatex foam core polyurethane, wrapped with 2 oz of fiber and covered with ticking. They are very resilient and hold the form well (keeps the leather from showing stress cracks - which is what happens when using the down cushions).

As far as comfort for tall folks, thats hard to say in a category. Everyone likes something different!

Duane Collie
The Keeping Room

Hi Duane!
I wish I had seen this site before ordering my two new sofas. Since I had purchased another H&M leather sofa 10 years ago which we are very happy with and absolutely love, I didn't see the need to do much research.
However, the quality on the new purchases is not up to par. Some parts of the sofa, in particular the top portion/panels of the back cushions have a different feel and look to it then the rest of the sofa. Also, the leather on the cushions on the settlement couch wrinkles a lot and look like there's not enough padding in the cushions
The two new sofas we purchased include the Settlement love seat and the Kodiak sofa. We were told that there were some Kodiak specials depending on the leather i.e document. The settlement was not on special but we used the same leather class-document. What I didn't realize until reading your site that there is a processing difference on the specials and that the leather may be from China. So if H&M no longer buys the kits from China, do they still purchase the leather from China? How are the Town and Country promotions different than the Married Cover? If they don't buy t he kits, is it sewn to fit ?

I assumed it was all made in the USA as I try not to buy items from China.
It took several months to get the sofas as they did not have enough leather for both sofas. So I'm a bit confused as to whether the leather was made in China and if it was Married leather since it was a promotional item.

I also realize that leather has a certain odor but it seems to be much stronger than my older sofa. We've never had any issues with that one-granted that was Quintessence leather.

My greatest issues is that I've noticed some allergic reactions to being around the couches--itchy eyes, breathing etc. At first I thought it was early allergy season but a friend suggested that it could be the leather..which prompted me to do some research and here I am. I'm still hoping that it doesn't have anything to do with the sofas. Is that possible?

WE love H&M sofas as far as comfort but we were disappointed on some of the quality aspects of the latest couches and more importantly if you are aware of any health issues with some of the leathers, especially if they are made in China.

I really appreciate your site. Thank you