Daniel emailed us about church chairs over the weekend.  His church is considering removing their 60 year old church pews and replacing them with church chairs.  They will need 100-125 chairs if this project goes forward and he has been given the responsibility to head up this important effort for his church.  Daniel is trying to do his best for his church, but early on it is evident that he does not understand one very critical point:  ALL IMPORTED CHURCH CHAIRS ARE NOT THE SAME!

Daniel shared with us in his email that he is considering two church chairs right now that he found online.  He shared the names and models of both and asked us for our thoughts.  We are so glad he did!

The first chair Daniel mentioned is a chair made in China by a factory there.   That chair is then marketed to various United States dealers and importers.  Each of those American dealers and importers have the option to “resell” that chair.   They can name the chair whatever they want to name it (private labeling).   They can “portray” themselves as the manufacturer of that chair by using clever language like “built to our specifications” which essentially means nothing but can make it sound like they had something to do with designing and producing that church chair when they did not!   Daniel does not realize it, but that very same chair is available from a couple of dozen domestic dealers and importers, but it is named something different by each of them.

The second chair Daniel mentioned to us is a chair manufactured at a factory in China by a domestic manufacturer who has moved some of their production overseas for a cost savings.  In this case, a legitimate domestic manufacturer produces the church chairs according to their own designs and procedures.  They own the molds and the tooling and the quality control process.  They have trained people in the United States and then located them overseas to oversee and monitor production of their church chairs.  And very importantly, there is now a manufacturer who provides the warranty for the chairs and stands behind the chairs.  In addition, the same chairs tend to be available a decade down the road when more chairs are needed by the church.

So what did we tell Daniel?  Well, first of all we shared some of the above that we have written.  But we also encouraged him to obtain samples of each of the above mentioned church chairs if he needed more convincing.  Our experience is that having the above two options side by side make the decision a no-brainer.  On the Internet, many church chairs can be made to sound so appealing.  But in person, reality takes over and can prevent a church from making regretted purchase.  For you see, ALL IMPORTED CHURCH CHAIRS ARE NOT THE SAME!

At Church Furniture Partner, we have available almost every church chair produced today.  But we do have those that we would use in our own churches and those we would not.  One of the goals of our ministry to help churches purchase one quality level over what they would have d0ne for the same dollars.  We’d love to assist your church in doing so the same way we have for Daniel’s.  Please feel free to contact us at your convenience!