True Wall Hugger futon frame

During our retail survey I talked to all kinds of people with varying degrees of knowledge and sophistication. Even the best of retailers struggle with getting product on time and in good condition. Smart retailers keep their options open by developing relationships with more than one vendor. They also ask a lot of questions and form alliances with other retailers for networking. Bottom line: Smart retailers anticipate and expect nightmare scenarios like the one above and they compensate for it.

On another note, an issue has come to our attention via Jacques Déry of AM-PM, a Canadian futon frame manufacturer. Déry has called us on the carpet concerning the use of the word "wall-hugger" in our most recent Futon Primer. We said, in that article, that a true wall-hugger futon frame must be four to six inches away from the wall. Déry says his futon frame is a "true" wall-hugger because it can be placed directly against the wall and convert from sitting to sleeping without moving the futon frame at all.

"Our patented mechanism allows the customer to place futon frame actually touching the wall, and still the seat-back will not touch the wall when it converts," said Déry, "This is a true wall hugger futon frame."

We spoke to several of our advisors and came up with the following suggestions for future specs concerning the use of the term "wall-hugger" which we maintain is a generic term that has been used in the industry since the early eighties. The AM-PM futon frame is a "true" wall-hugger with zero clearance for conversion. Other futon frames could be considered "true" wall-huggers if the frame can touch the wall and the back-rest not touch the wall during conversion. The base of a "true" wall-hugger futon frames must also not move during conversion. A wall-hugger futons with a two or four inch tolerance will be defined as such. Several futon frames on the market with wooden and metal bases and metal mechanisms would be two inch tolerance wall-huggers, if the futon frame must sit two inches away from the wall to convert without the back-rest touching the wall on the way up or down.

These suggestions may never make it into anyone's marketing materials, but they allow us to better identify what's happening out there and also keep us out of hot water with futon manufacturers who have unique products in the "me-too" world of futon frames.