The nice thing about buying furniture is that you can touch it, feel it, see it, etc before a purchase. We bought recliners and there is a quality difference depending upon what you buy and what store you buy it at (we shopped around). Problems we saw with some products were that either the mechanism was very hard to operate or that the weight of someone sitting on the recliner caused the mechanism to get caught on the carpet and not open. Also with a recliner you need to make sure you like the angle the "foot rest" opens to as it will not be adjustable if you buy a manually operated one (usually just one open position). Alternatively, for an extra fee, there are power operated ones where you have almost limitless positions to fit your comfort level.
What we bought at Ashley's has a sturdy build, firm cushions that should last, and easily operated mechanisms for the reclining part. The material looks nice and durable. Saleswoman was very helpful and didn't try to rush us or push us into anything.
Overall very enjoyable experience.
ps. I don't give them 5 stars because there is an unclear return policy. The fine print on the back of the invoice says they can refund your money (minus delivery charges) at their discretion if nothing is damaged but reading other Yelp reviews I think in most cases the reality is once you sign for it at delivery you own it. The fine print also clearly says no returns on closeouts, accessories, as-is-sales, mattresses and foundations but overall I'm not sure what would happen if we tried to return our furniture (we don't want to). Clarity in this area would be easy to do at time of sale but it never was discussed with us.