Rowe Furniture company files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

She instilled such a hatred and such low morale amongst employees that they sabotaged product quality hoping that Pedrolie would ultimately be held responsible for tripling of customer service costs to correct quality issues with the consumer. One angry employee returned to the factory after hours and doused the central corridor of the business offices with gasoline and set the factory ablaze. The company's CFO was working late and would have died in that fire had the sprinkler system not extinguished the blaze along with the help of the fire department. Needless to say computer systems for accounts payable, accounts receivable, and new order processing were ruined. The factory was completely shut down for almost two weeks and the business interruption expenses were astronomical. The unusual and severe events ceased the moment Charlene Pedrolie left the company.

I assume she is now working with the City of New York because her "consulting" business was not a raging success as a self-employed venture for Ms. Pedrolie. In my previous email to you I told you about “black Friday” when Ms. Pedrolie fired every senior manager of every department in the factory. This included the head of distribution and transportation, the plant manager, the manager of the frame building factory, the head of customer service, and all department heads throughout the manufacturing complex such as manager of sewing, manager of supply in process, manager of upholstery assembly, manager of quality inspection, manager of wood finishing. She attempted to put new people in jobs that required a varied amount of skill sets, most important of which was people skills. The most difficult aspect of managing “blue collar” labor in a tight labor market is keeping the worker motivated and satisfied to continue working at my factory instead of any one of the many other industries in our area. She failed to recognize the importance of our people on every level.

i own rowe(3sets) and all are perfect. we have a slip cover sectional, and it is great. with two dogs and two kids we wash it every season, and it still looks great. it seams a lot of stores are going bankrupt, and they blaim everyone but themselves. I just read about rowe in the WSJ this past week, and they are still going strong.

I just wanted to second happyinWI's opinion. I have quite a few Rowe pieces - some are 11 years old. They look great and are very well made. I would not hesitate to buy from Rowe again.

I just discovered yourt blog. I had ordered an etagere from Storehouse before it went bye-bye. I have searched high and low for the same furniture piece through other retailers to no avail. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what companies manufactured/distributed the ufrniture. It was a "Cascade Etagere" Black wood, 3 shelves, only 38 in. tall.

Tony Hall wrote:

Take your Chinese crap and shove it.

I agree with tony here, shove it,I see your china crap everyday and it's junk,and i know this because i have to repair it...the only reason your leading is because you all work for less money, well here we don't, so keep on making your crap because i won't buy the junk.......

The only issue that I have ever had with Rowe is the ETA changing after being promised a quick 4 week turn around. They have always been very helpful and eager to please its retailers. I love their product; Rowe offers the latest in design and fabrics. I sold it for many years and I live with it everyday in my own home.

Wow! I had the exact same experience and not only did the pushy salesperson not disclose the fact that Rowe is bankrupt - she actually told me "it's a great company that's been around forever". Oh really? I have no confidence after reading these posts that the furniture will last, that it's any good at all and that the company will be around to honor ANY warranty should I have a problem. Unfortunately, I ordered the Eero sectional and put down a 33% deposit and won't be able to get much of it back. I am so angry about this situation. The furniture was supposed to come in in 6-8 weeks. It came in a month early and I'm afraid it's a piece of junk so I don't want to take delivery. I am filing a complaint about the furniture company with the state attorney general. I thought they had to disclose importants facts like - the manufacturer is in Chapter 11 and the warranty is meaningless, the fabric comes from China, and there's a good chance your sectional will fall apart (and the fabric is probably full of toxic chemicals from that cesspool country) and you won't have any recourse! I'm beginning to think
furniture salespeople are a step below used car salespeople!

Maria wrote:

I am so glad I discovered your website. I am in the process of picking out fabric for a Rowe Eero three piece sectional sofa that I was seriously considering ordering through one of two stores one in NY and one in CT. Both stores carry Rowe Furniture and both have very little of their furniture in their stores but have all the fabrics that Rowe carry. Not one of the sales people in either store said anything about Rowe Furniture having filed bankruptcy. The sofa is very expensive. I am now having second thoughts and will probably not be purchasing the Rowe Sofa after all, regardless if Sun Capital bought them and got them out of bankruptcy. From what I read they seem like they are not a reliable company

I have serviced many pieces of furniture over
37 years. In my opinion, Rowe is not what you
would expect it to be. To be honest, the best
Living Room manufacturer is Mayo Furniture
out of Texarkana, Tx. No advertising, but
quality furniture.

I have worked for Rowe for over 9 years through all ups and downs our goal to this day is provide our customers with a quality piece of furniture that will last, but as we all know during these tough economic times all companies struggle but Sun Capital seen something great in us as a top producer in upholstered furniture that is Proundly Made in USA!!!!

I posted a response on Rowe link I hope your effort was successful, perhaps there is job openings for work camps in Siberia or Oil Lobbyist thats a good work match for her

Zlata wrote:

Charlene Pedrolie !
Dear Former Rowe Furniture Employees we need your help !!!
ASAP !!!
If you have any information that will help us get Charlene Pedrolie removed from our city animal shelter CACC.
Please email Laurie Bleier below.
Also, below is a petition to get Charlene to resign.
You can read what's she has been up to lately .
And it's not a happy * TAIL*
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/petition/77088...
Laurie Bleier
Director
http://brooklynanimalfosternetwork.org/
Laurie Bleier <lbleier@nyc.rr.com>

I worked at Rowe in Mid 90's found it a wonerful place to work. It had a functioning employee profit sharing program (until A.D worked at gutting it). The real trouble started when they went for NYSE listing and brought in C.P to glamorize the company profile, her coming was a career boost for me since she created so many job openings in management so quickily. I guess her logic was all these wonderful people "only" took Rowe from $65mil a year to $250mil a year in 5 long years so they must have not known what they were doing :(. I remember 1 time sitting in my office and overhearing her and A.D. gleefully talking about how some talks with India were going well and how much more $ they'd make if they could get into that cheap labor. Forget the 100's of USA employees that built that place. You should have seen the hateful look on her face when she walked out and saw me at my desk. She told me in no uncertain terms to keep my mouth shut. I immediately talked to a senior manager, so take that CP. She destroyed moral and gutted a good part of the core managers that led to that drastic growth. The Birnbachs for their part I found to be decent and approachable men but from far different backgrounds from the majority of employees. Not their fault but true nonetheless, I don't think they saw the damage she and high ranking others did until it was too late. It is heartbreaking to hear of MO closing I visited the plants on numerous ossaions and loved the people and how they did things. Hope new ownership and the Birnbachs remember how the growth and profit was really done in mid 90's and get back to a formula that works. To those at Rowe who remmeber me hope all is well and I miss you all. Especially my old pals from the great softball teams and the wonderful people at the SF plant shout outs to Bob H Robin B Doug R Tim W Tim G The West boys Jim H and all the others, especially past ( at least I think)employees Buddy D Wayne O and Hiram A (that last one might surprise a few)..

One last Rowe story involving I.T.- I remember not long after I.T sent out a memo concerning employees using Co. computers for personal use back in 96 or 97, I had to walk into I.T to get something done on my Laptap. The I.T admin. guy was at his desk and he had his back turned to his monitor as he talked to me He brushed his mouse with his elbow(unbeknownst to him) and immediately a avalanche of porn sites concerning a certain male organ came popping up on the screen. I could hardly contain my laugh.

Question: I got caught up in this thread and was wondering if Charlene Pedrolie is still with the NYC animal shelter?

I understand this situation, if they know they are going bump they should not take any more orders and let all their customer know!!

__________
Furniture Hire, Chair Hire, Sofa Hire and Stool hire
http://www.conceptfurniture.co.uk

If any of you have received a claim form, fill it out and send it to the address stated on the form. Fill in all the money you have paid towards your furniture. This is the only way you can get some or all of your money back

I have a Rowe sofa purchased over 10 years ago. It has been a very solid sofa with slipcover that has been washed often. I really had no idea Rowe Furniture has gone through so many problems. I need a replacement slipcover and am questioning whether or not I should order one through the company (or whatever company owns Rowe now) or see if I can find a local upholster to make a replacement for me. I think the sofa and cushions are still in great shape and with new slipcover hope it can last another 8-10 years. Does anyone out there have any experience ordering replacement slipcovers from this company........? I'd love to hear some feedback.

How did you make out? I am in the exact same position and need to order new slipcovers??

Amy Partak wrote:

I have a Rowe sofa purchased over 10 years ago. It has been a very solid sofa with slipcover that has been washed often. I really had no idea Rowe Furniture has gone through so many problems. I need a replacement slipcover and am questioning whether or not I should order one through the company (or whatever company owns Rowe now) or see if I can find a local upholster to make a replacement for me. I think the sofa and cushions are still in great shape and with new slipcover hope it can last another 8-10 years. Does anyone out there have any experience ordering replacement slipcovers from this company........? I'd love to hear some feedback.

Peter wrote:

Question: I got caught up in this thread and was wondering if Charlene Pedrolie is still with the NYC animal shelter?

Yes she is as of of July 8 2009. She has decimated the organization. Top personnel have either resigned or were fired.
Exactly what Doc Sloan said happened at Rowe has happened at Animal Care & Control. The animals have paid with their lives. She posts completely false reports as to euthanasia and adoption rates. She is universally disliked by every employee left.

200th post!!