Herman Miller & the NY Attorney General  

i guess mr holden-caulfield that is why we have the court system. some feel different than you do.

The philosophy of price fixing is not
the issue here, really, and getting into a rant about it is not what I had had in mind.
I was just wondering if this lawsuit about the Aeron chair might goose companies like Herman Miller and Knoll into having more frequent sales than just that one-a-year-10%-big-deal sale they have.
In this economy, wouldn't you think that these companies would make some attempt to counter how many people are buying vintage pieces fropm eBay and having them redone? That's GOT to take something away from their bottom line.

Sorry Barry
But thats not the case. Vintage pieces may nibble away at a fraction of the business that HM & Knoll do, but not in any measurably significant way. HM & Knoll are the second and third largest furniture companies in the country. They make their money selling to offices (Knoll) and to hospitals (HM). The Classics are a side business, something to make them look good and enforce their brand identity. I'm not saying that HM & Knoll neglect the classics, but it is certainly not their bread and butter.
Vintage pieces require work. You've got to hunt to find them, buy them (on Ebay, for example) sight unseen, and many vintage pieces have maintenance issues. There's also the great American spirit of buying something shiny and new.
As for price fixing, I agree that it protects the little guys from having to compete with CHAIR-R-US online retailers. But, it also puts a LOT of control in the hands of the manufacturer. With the example of the Aeron chair - it is THE office chair. No other office chair has the same ubiquity, prestige, or reputation. As such HM is guaranteed to sell them, no matter what the price is. Thats why they dont do sales. (even when they do sales, the Aeron is usually excluded)