Q:  How can I find my nearest TELL CITY® furniture store?

A:  Many of the product/retailer inquiries we receive are from former customers wishing to add to Tell City® furniture they currently own. Many of our older collections are no longer available and we would not want to give you a store name if that store could not help you. We will be able to provide the best response to your request if you can tell us if you wish to add to the TELL CITY® products you currently own and what collection they are from. 

Q: Can I purchase TELL CITY® furniture products directly from you?

A:  Only the products shown on our website in the TELL CITY® DIRECT section are available for purchase directly from us. Our major product line, the TRAILS® Collection is only sold through authorized TELL CITY® retailers.

Q:  What is TELL CITY® DIRECT?

A:  TELL City® Direct is a new direct to consumer furniture program introduced in 2004.  This exciting new program provides high quality TELL CITY® products designed exclusively to be delivered directly to your home. The TELL CITY® DIRECT products may be purchased directly from us through our website.

Q: Do you have a TELL CITY® DIRECT showroom that I can visit or a TELL CITY® DIRECT catalog or brochure you can send to me?

A:  TELL CITY® DIRECT is an Internet based retail program whose only “showroom” is on our Company website. In order to keep our prices to you for these products very low we do not publish a catalog or brochure for this program at this time.

Q:  Is a catalog available with current TELL CITY® furniture products that I can purchase?

A:  We do publish a product catalog featuring the TRAILS® Collection sold through authorized TELL CITY® retail stores that is available for a cost of $8.50 postage paid.  Many of the inquiries we receive are from customers who have purchased product previously and wish to add to their collection. We have discontinued many of the older Collections and suggest that you advise if you wish to add to product you currently own before ordering a catalog, and tell us what collection you currently own. We will then tell you what the status of your furniture collection is at this time.

Q:  I am looking for additional pieces to match my TELL CITY® Young Republic® Maple Collection furniture.  Where can I find it?

A:  The Young Republic® Collection, which your furniture is a part of, was discontinued in 1995 and is no longer available. The only source for a matching product is in antique stores or auction companies that specialize in this product. 

Q:  I would like to know the value of my TELL CITY® furniture. Can you help me with a value?

A:  We are sorry we cannot provide values for TELL CITY® furniture products for several reasons.  We do not know the condition of your furniture or value in your particular region for this type of product. As a wholesale manufacturer we do not participate in establishing the retail value of our products. We are not a certified appraiser and our valuations would have no legal standing. We suggest that you contact a reputable antique dealer who will provide a valuation for a fee. You can also contact your insurance agent for the names of persons in your area that can provide appraised values for possessions.

Q: I would like to know how old my TELL CITY® furniture is?  What can you tell me?

A:  If you provide all of the information found on the product label attached to your TELL CITY® product we should be able to provide some dating information.  The numbers that are important for identification are the Pattern #, Finish # and the date code located below the finish #. Please make your request via e-mail only and not by telephone to allow us to continue this service into the future. 

Q:   My TELL CITY® Glide Rocker has a broken metal swing iron, can you help me repair my chair?

A:  We have replacement kits available that consist of four metal Swing Irons (two left and two right) and eight ball bearings. We strongly recommend replacing all four Swing Irons at the same time. These replacement swing irons are die cast using aircraft quality aluminum and are considerably stronger than the original castings. It is often necessary to make the holes in the chair larger to accept the bearings, which were a later product improvement change. This is not an overly complicated process and will return the rocker to excellent gliding condition. Installation instructions are included with this kit. Please contact customer service for complete pricing and shipping information. 

Q:  My TELL CITY® glide rocker has a support under the seat cushion that looks like a wire mesh with rubber springs (1” W X 2” L) that attach to the back of the seat frame. These springs have broken and need to be replaced. Can you help me?

A:  We can provide replacement chair webbing and metal ends. We strongly recommend that you replace all of the webbing in your chair as it does stretch with age and use. It is necessary for you to measure your chair frame to determine the quantity of webbing needed. Installation instructions are included with the replacement parts. Please contact customer service for complete pricing and shipping information.  

Q:  My TELL CITY® glide rocker has a support under the seat cushion that looks like elastic chair webbing with metal clips on each end.  These clips fit into slots in the seat frame.  My webbing straps have broken and need to be replaced.  Can you help me?

A:  Replacement chair webbing and the metal ends for the webbing may be purchased from Rockler Woodworking & Hardware. You can call them toll free 800-279-4441 and request a catalog or, order replacement webbing #40998, and a package of the metal ends (clips), #41004. When cutting the new straps to length from the roll of webbing you should cut the webbing strap slightly shorter than the old strap. These should be installed so that they are fairly taunt. An upholstery shop will be able to do this if you need help with the repair.

Q:  The cushions on my TELL CITY® rocker or chairs need to be replaced. Can I order replacements directly from you?

A:  We discontinued the upholstered rocker replacement cushion program in 1996. Our suggestion for our customers who need replacement cushions is to take their seat and back cushions to an upholstery shop that they know and trust. The upholstery shop will use your old cushions to make a pattern to produce new cushions. The filler material in the cushions often needs to be replaced at the same time and they should accomplish all of this for a reasonable fee.

Q:  I have a TELL CITY ® chair with a rush type woven seat. Can this seat be replaced and can you recommend someone to replace the seat for me?

A:  The seat in your chair can be rewoven. The seats can be replaced at our factory using the same seat fiber and finishing materials that we’ve used since 1940.  Reweaving involves removing the old seat and installing the new seat.  It does not include refinishing of the chair frame, only seat replacement and seat finishing.  You would need to bring your chairs to Tell City and leave them with us for no more than two weeks.  Please contact us for current pricing. 

Q:  The swivel on my TELL CITY® barstool needs to be replaced. Can you help me?

A:  An exact replacement barstool swivel for your Tell City Chair Company stool is no longer available.

The swivel(s) in this package will bolt exactly to the legs of your stool, if you have anchor bolts that are on 7 ¼” centers.  The top plate, which attaches to the stool seat, will match a seat hole pattern from 5” center to center measurement up to 5 ¾”.  5 ¼” is typical and will fall within this range.

IMPORTANT:  If the top plate of the replacement swivel that mounts to the seat is smaller than your original swivel.  It may be necessary to use a shorter wood screw to fasten the swivel to the seat to avoid going all the way through the seat.  This can happen, as the seat saddle or scoop is deeper towards the center of the seat panel.  Be very careful when installing the replacement swivel if the new mounting holes are closer together than the original holes.

Optional Mounting Method   It is possible to increase the strength of the seat swivel mounting by making a plywood panel approximately 3/8” by 9” x 9”.  You can then mount the top swivel plate to the plywood panel and then attached the plywood panel to the bottom of your stool seat. This optional method of mounting should allow you to use longer mounting screws into the seat and to use more screws to fasten the swivel unit to the stool seat. The company manufactured many different barstool seat sizes. If you choose to use this optional mounting method, it may be necessary for you to make the plywood panel a slightly different size than the one suggested above to fit your particular stool.

Q:  I want to refinish my TELL CITY® furniture. Can I purchase the stain and finishing materials from you directly?

A:  All of our finishes are custom formulated and cannot be sold to consumers due to Federal restrictions on resale of finishing materials. A professional refinisher should be able to match your finish by blending different colors to recreate the original finish. This is a challenging process that we do not recommend to non-professionals. If you would like to attempt to match the finish yourself your best retail material source would be a Sherwin-Williams Paint Store. You will need to purchase at least two different “oil based” wiping stains, selecting a stain that is darker and contains the primary color of the finish to be matched. Your second selection should be a lighter colored stain that will reduce the first stain to the approximate color needed. Once the color has been matched, the strength of the newly mixed stain may be controlled with the addition of Mineral Spirits. A thorough understanding of color combination and creation is necessary to be successful. If you are completely refinishing a Tell City product you may use any appropriate clear coat offered by Sherwin-Williams. If you are partially refinishing a Tell City product it will be necessary to use a nitrocellulose lacquer based clear coating to achieve proper adhesion with the older finish.  We assume no responsibility for results achieved using this information and your efforts are entirely at your own risk.