Lane Steps Into Home Theater in A Big Way

Lane 103 Matinee Theater Seat

The demise of Berkline came as a big surprise to many in the industry, the details of which are included in an earlier post in this blog.  Berkline represented the lion's share of the home theater seating furniture sold in the US market, with Palliser coming in close behind them.  The big question on everyone's mind was who will step up to the plate and challenge the space in Berkline's absence?

Lane Furniture Company appears to have taken that challenge and by all accounts is right on track to make a dent in this space.  Key Berkline models that offered features customers admired have been used in creating some exciting new Lane models at compelling price points - similar to those offered by Berkline.  Lane also strategically hired some of the top Berkline home theater staff in an effort to make an investment and concerted push into the industry.

The summer Las Vegas furniture market will be used to introduce at least 8-10 new Lane home theater models.  Having worked extensively with Lane over the past few years, we can confirm that these models are exciting and will bring something fresh to the market.  

Lane is the largest reclining furniture brand in the world and operates out of St Louis and Mississippi, shipping custom made furniture in 3-4 weeks from order date.

New Exclusive - The Bullet from Palliser

TheaterSeatStore is once again proud to announce a new exclusive event with Palliser Furniture - the arrival of a best in class space-saver called The Bullet. 

With the world of home theater experiencing a dramatic set back on the untimely announcement of Berkline's liquidation, the options to consumers in the short term will be constrained.  The Berkline Tangiers was a industry leading space-saver with no real competition from the field.  Now the Bullet offers all the same features and more. 

Features include a chaise style foot rest - missing in the Tangiers - with lighted cup holders and a burl wood black colored tray table.  The base of the seat has ambient lighting for a true theater experience.  Most importantly these lights are not daisy chained to the entire configuration like they would have been with Berkline (even though the Tangiers did not offer lighting - this type of connection existed on other Berkline models) which is a feature that has the ability to cause frustration.  If one seat loses it's lighting then the entire chain is broken and all seats will lose the ambient lights.

The Bullet is available in stock in most configurations and can be delivered in around 10 days.  Material options include black or brown leather match, with power recline or manual.  Of course this includes Palliser's industry leading warranty - limited lifetime on the frame and mechanism and 5 years on the padding - power is warranted for 2 years.

Dispelling the Myths on Power Recline

Power recline is now completely in the main stream but there is not a single day that goes by without someone from our sales floor being asked about the risks of ordering power over manual.  The concerns would have been valid a few years back but today it should not cause anyone to hesitate for a second.

The motors used in power recline theater seats generally all come from a small handful of manufacturers.  These same brands make the exact same motors that go into cars today.  There is no hesitation when buying a car with power recline seats so their should be no hesitation buying a theater seat.  In the event that you do have a problem with the motor there are fail safes.  One, all motors have at least a one year warranty and from my experience if you are going to have a motor breakdown, it happens right in the beginning - within the first week in about 80% of the cases we see.  The remaining 15% of break downs will occur within the first year and then there are about 5% of motors that will give out beyond that period.  

Lets further assume that the motor breaks outside of the warranty - circumstances are not as bad as you may think.  Replacing the motor is easy.  The cost of the replacement motor with shipping to your home is between $75-$100.  The motor itself can be installed by a child - it literally takes less than 5 minutes.

So, with some fears abated - go out and enjoy those seats!