I bought what I thought was a quality leather recliner from our local high end furniture store in 2004, paying $2200. It was one of my worst decisions. The mechanism to recline(gas cylinder) and bring the back up stopped working in a few months. Store "claimed" they fixed it. It stopped again. We ended up grabbing the back and pulling it up when we need it up. We have found another store that would sell us another recline(gas cylinder) mechanism and my husband put it in. Again it worked for a short time... Do not buy this Austin Tilt chair - gas cylinder recline mechanism doesn't work! And annually, I have to keep putting new stain on it to cover the scratches or it looks horrible.

UPDATE for BasketballMom..... SORRY I was incorrect on which sofa I sat on. I stated I sat on the Evening but it was the September sofa. Today we went back to Lexington Furniture for more research and help from the salesperson with which we're doing business. I like the looks of the Evening and a few others a little better than the Austin we are also considering. The Evening may work for us but we definitely need to consider the cushion type. When we sat in it we DID NOT lean way back (as we did in the September). However the cushions are Ultra Down/seat and back---they sit firmer. We're ordering anyway so we have a lot of options. H & M will make this sofa with their standard foam seat cushions along with Ultra Down back cushions if we wish. Whatever our choice, I feel we should keep seat and back cushions the same (all standard seat & back or all Ultra Down seat & back). Our salesperson and one of the owners really gave us a good education---we all learned something from fooling around with cushions today. Whether going with standard or down, all seating will "break in" and be more comfortable after some use. Try to find where you can sit in both types to see the difference. Standard cushions are more bouncy in a good way. In a furniture showroom some seating isn't as firm as when it first comes in due to being sat in and tried out. On three cushion sofas try sitting on the middle cushion and see the difference as to the side cushions---most people sit on a side cushion when trying out furniture. Lord the list goes on, doesn't it? I know exactly what I'm looking for so I will be traveling to Louisville and maybe Cincinnati to hopefully sit in an Evening with standard cushions or an Austin without the bustle back. I will be very clear, when approached by a salesperson, that I'm just looking. Good luck and let me know how your search goes.

Hancock and Moore leather sofa for $80. Living quality for less.

If you want to see Hancock & Moore in the Hickory area, you need to take a factory tour at their main plant at 166 Hancock and Moore Lane in Taylorsville Monday through Friday. There are no stores in that area that show much inventory. The tours are weekday, done one on one and take a couple hours. You will not see a showroom at the factory, however you will see between 80 and 120 pieces either completed or in final stages of production enough to try out or evaluate. Better yet, the tour is fascinating and you will learn what makes a quality piece of furniture. You will need to call them to arrange. If you want to go to a retail store, then Furnitureland South in High Point NC. If you are ever in the Washington DC area my store is one of the largest stocking dealers on the East Coast, I always have around fifty pieces of Hancock & Moore on display and maintain that amount of floor models in Alexandria VA. Duane Collie