Thomasville Furniture Industries Inc sits on the right side of tracks, just as it did when it entered the first decade of the 20th century as the fledgling Thomasville Chair Company in a bustling railroad community near High Point, North Carolina. Thomasville Furniture Industries is one of the largest and best known American furniture companies and its history mirrors the birth of production furniture in North America.
Founded in 1904, it was one of many chair manufacturers scattered throughout the Piedmont area of North Carolina. The company turned out 180 chairs a day which gives the town the nickname it cherishes to this day: ‘Chair City, USA’. Originally owned by two farming brothers, it was bought for US$2,000 for lumber. When the company couldn’t pay its debt in cash, the brothers reluctantly accepted stock instead and bought out the other stockholders. Business improved and, by 1917, sales topped US$1m and the company was recognised for innovations in design as well as manufacturing quality.
According to company archives, the Thomasville Chair Company achieved many firsts for the furniture industry. These included the first national sales force in the furniture industry and the first American furniture company to produce and sell an entire suite: Thomasville dining tables, buffets and chairs. To survive the Depression, the company stopped paying dividends to stockholders and management took a cut in salary. In 1933 the company began a series of trade classes which enabled hundreds of its employees to learn new and better manufacturing techniques.
In 1941, Thomasville Chair Co went to war with the rest of the country, making items requested by the federal government – bunk beds for the army, plugs for bombs, tent stakes, spatulas and rolling pins.
During the 1950s post-war boom, sales reached US$17m, many innovations in machinery were made and the company’s reputation for crafting quality furniture grew. In the 60s, under the direction of Tom Finch, the company received a new name – Thomasville Furniture Industries Inc. In 1968, it was acquired by Armstrong World Industries. In the 70s, Thomasville entered the contract market, providing furnishings for hotels and inns, primarily in the US. In 1984, it expanded into government sales, and its products can be found in US military facilities worldwide.
In December 1995, Thomasville was purchased by Furniture Brands International Inc, a major residential furniture company which also includes well-known furniture company Broyhill and Lane. The furniture conglomerate had a record year in 1999, with earnings growth of 8.4% and in 2000 shipments are expected to exceed US$2bn.
Although corporate offices and showrooms are located along the railroad tracks and more than half of the work force lives and works in Thomasville, today’s employees number 6,300 in more than 20 plants in four states across the southern US. Today, Thomasville Furniture Industries is a full-line furniture manufacturer with dedicated galleries in more than 400 leading independent retail furniture stores.
The company has aggressively taken a lead in opening its own distribution centres – Thomasville Home Furnishing stores that carry only Thomasville products. During 1999, 26 new Thomasville Home Furnishing stores opened and by the end of 2000, it expected the stores to number almost 130. Selected Thomasville occasional furniture is stocked at all DFS plc stores, of which there are around 50 in Great Britain.
Domestic hardwoods represent 95% of Thomasville’s lumber requirements. The only tropical wood is Brazilian mahogany – about 3% of its total lumber requirements. There is no verification of its source of raw material or mention of efforts to assure sustainable management. Instead the company relies on US forest statistics that indicate that native hardwoods are being regenerated at a rate over 80% greater than they are being harvested. These statistics are being challenged by environmentalists throughout the southern Appalachians as they take a hard look at the data from the most recent Forest Service continuing forest inventory.
Thomasville has not escaped pressures to reduce its use of tropical species and has been working with the Center for Environmental Studies to develop a report on ‘Saving Our Tropical Forests’, claiming that its primary Brazilian suppliers of mahogany have extensive reforestation programmes.
To its credit, Thomasville has made a commitment to being an environmentally responsible manufacturer. The company eliminated CFCs from its foam cushions used in upholstered furniture and dining room chair seats. Also, it uses all woodwaste generated in its lumber cutting operations to provide 95% of the energy required to dry lumber, heat plants and dry furniture.
