Pottery Barn Kids v. JC Penney

[Anonymous]

Anyone researched the differences in detail? I can't believe the price difference. It is huge. And it is not like PBK is real wood.

Can anyone help me jump start a comparison with some third party resources?

Should I be looking at Great Beginnings? How do prices compare? Looking for a girls bed, canopy, and trundle. Don't need dresser.

TIA!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone researched the differences in detail? I can't believe the price difference. It is huge. And it is not like PBK is real wood.

Can anyone help me jump start a comparison with some third party resources?

Should I be looking at Great Beginnings? How do prices compare? Looking for a girls bed, canopy, and trundle. Don't need dresser.

TIA!

I think that Pottery Barn (Kids and otherwise) is overrated and their stuff is iffy in quality. IMO the price you pay is all about design (and marketing).

I think that JCPenney is way underrated and that you can get good-quality things from them for low prices. I buy clothing there from time to time, including for work, and am always happy with its quality and style.

Great Beginnings has great furniture but you will pay more. I imagine it is better quality than JCPenney's furniture, so whether you go that route depends on what you require vis-a-vis quality. As between PBK and JCP though, I would definitely choose JCP - I think it's essentially the same thing, for less.

[Anonymous]

I will say that I've bought some furniture pieces from JCP and have been pretty disappointed by the quality. Not kids' furniture, but we bought a recliner and a kitchen cart thing. Both were really poorly put together. The recliner is already falling apart and it's only been 2 years. Whereas our La-Z-Boy recliner is in awesome shape.

To some extent, I think you do get what you pay for.

I like JCP for cheap kids' clothes, underwear, etc.

Maybe try IKEA if you're looking for a less expensive alternative?

[Anonymous]

We are very happy with the quality of the crib we bought from JCP. Real wood, has held up well.

[Anonymous]

I have a few pieces from Pottery Barn and they looked great when I first got them...but a year or so later, the finish is rubbing off on every piece from there.

My Crate and Barrel furniture has held up MUCH better. I believe they have a kids division called "The Land of Nod". I think they go beyond baby...but I am not 100% sure.

[Anonymous]

I agree with the PP generally speaking on "you get what you pay for"... but unfortunately PB doesn't always live up to that maxim. For my money, PB is not cheap - there are sometimes bargains to be had, but it is not Ikea price point either. And yet a lot of its furniture is made of particleboard, and all you have to do is stop by a PB outlet to see how well some of its products hold up. I'm sure that there are some items, such as those sofas which are made by Mitchell Gold for PB as well as some of the solid wood items, that are great... but as another PP said, a lot of what you're paying for is styling and nowadays a variety of retailers are pretty quick to knock off the more expensive mass retailers. I crave PB stuff, but always try to find a more budget friendly alternative. JCP definitely fits that bill, although there too you shouldn't assume you're getting heirloom quality. I do like that JCP has a mechanism for user reviews on its website, and they seem to be pretty straightforward in calling out something that is poorly made vs. something that is a worthwhile bargain. Always check the materials and specs when you're buying online, and always look around the web for competing products!

[Anonymous]

I've bought a lot of stuff from JCP, although never any kids' stuff. I've been super-impressed with quality for the price. I ended up buying my son's bedroom set from LL Bean, of all places. Solid hardwood and very durable. It's classic design and not much variety to choose from. But if you like it, you'd be very happy with the quality.

[Anonymous]

We have one bookcase from PBK, and it was a huge disappointment - really poor construction. We got a bookcase from Sears that was much better.

We have had great luck with Land of Nod. Their pieces cost about the same as PBK but are solid and durable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree with the PP generally speaking on "you get what you pay for"... but unfortunately PB doesn't always live up to that maxim. For my money, PB is not cheap - there are sometimes bargains to be had, but it is not Ikea price point either. And yet a lot of its furniture is made of particleboard, and all you have to do is stop by a PB outlet to see how well some of its products hold up. I'm sure that there are some items, such as those sofas which are made by Mitchell Gold for PB as well as some of the solid wood items, that are great... but as another PP said, a lot of what you're paying for is styling and nowadays a variety of retailers are pretty quick to knock off the more expensive mass retailers. I crave PB stuff, but always try to find a more budget friendly alternative. JCP definitely fits that bill, although there too you shouldn't assume you're getting heirloom quality. I do like that JCP has a mechanism for user reviews on its website, and they seem to be pretty straightforward in calling out something that is poorly made vs. something that is a worthwhile bargain. Always check the materials and specs when you're buying online, and always look around the web for competing products!

ITA. I have the entry bench and shelves that are PB ripoffs and also a $400 kitchen table from JCP, and I'm very satisfied with the quality. The rumor on the (old school) NYC urbanbaby board was that JCP and PB furniture were manufactured at the same place- or something along those lines. Probably that's just a rumor, but having bought items from both places over the years, I could see it being accurate. I agree re: JCP user reviews. They are accurate and invaluable, IME.

The JCP store at Lake Forest Mall has a home store where you can check out the furniture in person (don't know about the other jcps in the dc area). They may not have kid's furniture, but you could check the quality in person. You'll see that some things are well made, some things are crap- that's where the user reviews come in handy if you can't see an item in person. The only thing that prevents me from buying more from them is that often an item will be really cute- but then it will have one thing about it that is so effed up that it ruins the entire piece. I was shopping for a guest bed a year or so ago, and jcp had a fairly cute bed....except that in the center of the headboard, there was some sort of an emblem or metal doily or something. Wtf? What would possess someone to ruin a perfectly good bed in that way? Who in their right mind would think that looked good?? Anyway, jcp will have a cute item for the right price every so often, and finding an inexpensive, small, 4 chair, non- counter height, attractive kitchen table is hard to find, but jcp actually had it, and it's very sturdy.

Also, there are some great deals on PB furniture on CL, try that out. HTH!

[Anonymous]

Try overstock.com too
Shippins is soooo cheap!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Try overstock.com too
Shippins is soooo cheap!

I tried them while our bed is awesome the dressers are worse than i could ever imagined.
walmart would've been better!!!!

[Anonymous]

OP I was in Havertys the other day and saw they carry kid furniture. I didn't look at the price, I was buying adult furniture. Anyway so far I am very impressed with the quality and service at Havertys.

[Anonymous]

OP here -- I went to PBK, JC Penny and Great Beginnings to compare. ALL of the furniture looked to be of the same quality. I purchased from JC Penney and saved thousands of dollars over PBK.