My once beloved naugahyde recliner has begun its final destination to a landfill. I do not know how long I've had it. It's metal tag stated Barcalounger, made in North Carolina. They are still made but no authorized dealers near me. A search of the internet indicates that the company folded or sold off in 2011. I had purchased this chair in the early 1980s, either right before or after birth of my children. They selectively gouged pieces of the cushion, dislodged and lost a support cross-piece from the leg lift, but bear no responsibility for its final demise. When I created My Space upon retirement, I transported this special chair to the room's center. Its recliner mechanism no longer allowed it to return to a rocking chair position. For cosmetics, I purchased a generic navy velour recliner cover. Every night I would retire to that chair, turn on the big screen TV and end most evenings leaning back, calves up, eyes on the screen. Over a short time, the support mechanism of the seat began to give way, sounding a quick pop each time I entered the chair. Time for a replacement.
Furniture stores still exist, though the ones with the Jewish names and salesmen, local pillars with memorial plaques in the area's synagogues, have largely disappeared from my area. Some regional chains have taken over. Department stores with furniture sections are fewer. Now we have Amazon and Wayfair, places that give immense selection. I shopped at the regional ones first. They deliver and assemble. They do not cart away the old chair, a service that would have given them an advantage over etailers. Some online providers arrange assembly for a fee, others leave that to the customer. My experience with their assemblers has not always gone well. Still, I could not begin until the Barcalounger vacated the space.
Junk hauling has gotten easy to access but expensive. Quotes of about $140 to remove the broken chair. A call to my weekly trash hauler gave me a quote of $50, which I authorized in a minute. Challenge, getting the recliner down a flight of stairs. While it had bulk, it did not have much weight. I could drag it along a flat surface, which I did. Out of the study, into the upper hall near the steps. A neighbor helped me guide it downstairs, where it sat in the living room until the day before pickup. Then I dragged it out the door, with some guidance from my wife, followed by a solo drag along the walk and the driveway. It sat at the edge for two days, tolerating a drizzle. On my scheduled pickup day, the sanitation truck hauled it to its final resting place.
To fill the big center void in the middle of My Space, I first harvested a bean bag chair from my son's room. During his childhood in the 1990s, an amorphous seat filled with foam pellets, not real beans, could be had for a tiny sum. Each child had one. Rarely used. When I sat in it and tried to rise, I can understand why they preferred real chairs. In my bedroom, I keep a leather recliner with ottoman, purchased on amazon.com, assembled by myself, intended for reading, rarely used. Easy to carry. Rather narrow. Fine for reading, though less comfortable than reading in bed, not very suitable for watching a big screen TV. A replacement recliner has become a high priority, as I sat in my dear Barcalounger multiple times a day, despite its structural faults.
In the weeks that followed my decision to replace the Barcalounger, I had visited most of the regional furniture stores. Had they assured me that they would remove it, I'd have purchased the new one there. But left to my own, Amazon and Wayfair provide better seating with more selection at less expense. Wayfair offers assembly for a surcharge, Amazon I'm on my own to find a handyman. Presumably Wayfair screens its contractors, though my experience has been mixed. For the living room sofa, the assembler did fine. For my desk chair, he used a drill attachment instead of tightening the screws with the Allen wrench provided for assembly. The screws dislodged. I replaced them myself, making them permanently tight with the proper tool, that Allen wrench. However, I knew where those screws went, even after two of them fell out. That allowed me to just insert them and make them properly secure. Starting just with the chair components and an assembly manual, probably one without writing to enable assembly in different countries, I probably would not have succeeded.
The etailers allow considerable customization. Price, under $500. Rocker mechanism. No electric inputs. Microfiber or faux leather. Neutral color. No nailhead style. Favorable user reviews, if available. I'm looking forward to using their filters to search for a personal match. Then order, wait a short time, and let the assembler have at it.
My life expectancy is much shorter than the longevity of my late Barcalounger. That was American-made in North Carolina, came assembled and delivered from a furniture store, probably one with a Jewish name, maybe Levitz z"l though perhaps Van Sciver's z"l. Mass-produced stuff from Asia has enabled an inflation-adjusted economy, but expectations of durability have evaporated. The low price makes them almost disposable. But as I learned, disposing does not come easily.
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