Once home to one of the largest furniture industries in the world, American furniture manufacturing has been dealt blow after blow in the past two decades. The days of seeing new pieces stamped with locations like Michigan, New York, or North Carolina are long gone. But, what led to the collapse in the first place? And why is it so hard to find furniture made in the U.S. when the industry reigned supreme not long ago?
The answer to these questions boils down to a single word: globalization. However, the more nuanced explanation is far more telling. Before exports from China and other southeast Asian countries flooded the U.S., most of the industry was based in the North during the 19th century. That included cities like Grand Rapids, Chicago, and Buffalo. These regions gave us makers like Duncan Phyfe and the Stickley brothers.
However, Southern companies had begun to eat into that market share by the early 20th century. Then, in an ironic twist, the South used their cheaper workforce, proximity to vast forests, and anti-unionization efforts to supplant the North as America’s furniture capital.
Already somewhat known for its Moravian cabinetmakers, North Carolina’s Piedmont region benefitted more than most. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Virginia, North Carolina had six businesses making around $159,000 worth of furniture in 1890. That number reached 44 factories and $1,500,000 by 1900. Nine years later, the industry was churning out $29,800,000 worth of furniture. That number doubled the next decade, even as the Great Depression ravaged the economy.
This trend would continue well into the late-20th century. Names like Thomasville, Drexel, and Basset—all from North Carolina—became synonymous with contemporary American furniture. Dozens of factories nestled in the Piedmont region propped up whole towns. However, a change was coming that would be just as swift as the industry’s move a century earlier.
Imports Arrive
American furniture companies had begun importing components from China well before entire pieces started flooding the market in the 1990s. Many economists now believe these early attempts to outsource work were precursors to the industry’s collapse. During this time, companies were constantly searching for a way to outmaneuver their competition. Some found an advantage in cheaper labor across the Pacific.
However, this came with a price. Giving a talk to students at the Columbia Business School, John Basset III, the chairman of Vaughan-Bassett Furniture Company in Galax, VA, detailed a telling conversation he had with a Chinese manufacturer years earlier. We won’t get into the details here, but the manufacturer predicted that outsourcing would eventually lead to the Chinese industry overtaking their American partners.
That’s precisely what happened after China was admitted into the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001. By this time, Chinese factories had been making furniture that appealed to American tastes for years by working closely with U.S. companies.
However, they were also taking notes (and photos) of American manufacturing techniques the entire time. After admission into the WTO, it was as if somebody suddenly opened the flood gates. Imports began steaming in, sometimes at prices cheaper than the actual materials used to make the furniture. This tactic undercut the same American companies that had tried to undercut their domestic competitors. Chinese manufacturers had even figured out who the dealers were and reached out to supply their showrooms directly.
The decline was swift. China exported around $241 million worth of furniture to the U.S. in 1994. A decade later, that number had ballooned to $4.2 billion. And in 2016, furniture imports—from all countries—to the U.S. accounted for 73.5% of the market.
A similar situation played out among the workforce. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, furniture making accounted for around 90,000 jobs in North Carolina in 1990. However, that number starts to plummet around 2001 and drops below the halfway mark by 2009.
Of course, this period also coincided with the Great Recession, which further devastated the industry. The ripple effects of the housing market collapse meant there was no longer a supply of new homeowners looking to furnish. The recession was the proverbial nail in the coffin. Or, at least, it was for most.
Manufacturers See Hope
Led by John Basset III, the industry filed and won an anti-dumping petition against China. The win provided companies with some relief. Regulators found that the Chinese government was selling their furniture for less than it cost to make it. Journalist Beth Macy documents the ordeal in her book, Factory Man: How One Furniture Maker Battled Offshoring, Stayed Local, and Helped Save an American Town.
Today, a couple of the big players have opted to keep manufacturing in the U.S. There have also been other glimmers of hope for the beleaguered industry in recent years.
Since the pandemic’s start, companies have reported a surge in demand. Lockdowns, stimulus checks, and snarled global supply chains forced Americans to look local for their furniture. So much so that companies have reported having a hard time finding enough employees to keep up.
Smaller furniture makers have also cropped up around the country in the last decade. Anchoring their shops and stores via social media, they can showcase their work to national audiences while exploring what contemporary American furniture design means.
Of course, these could all be trends. Demand could quickly begin to slow once supply chains return to normal. And the next generation of furniture makers could find that their boundary-pushing designs fail to influence the industry like the designers of old. However, only time will tell. For now, some furniture makers are still hanging on.
Jason Ruffin is a journalist and writer covering environmental and cultural topics. However, he spent some eight years repairing and restoring antique furniture before his entry into journalism. He still, on occasion, ventures into the random antique store tucked away amongst city streets or dirt roads.
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