Thomasville
Furniture Industries entered the first decade of the 20th
century as the fledgling Thomasville Chair Company in a bustling
railroad-side community in the triad area of North Carolina,
near High Point, the furniture capital. Founded in 1904, it
was just one of many chair manufacturers scattered throughout
North Carolina. It turned out 180 chairs a day and owed two
local timber farmers, T.J. Finch and his brother C.F. Finch,
$2,000 for lumber.
When the company couldn't pay its debt in cash, the Finch
brothers reluctantly accepted stock instead and decided to
buy out the other stockholders. Business improved immediately
under the astute guidance of the Finch family with sales topping
$1 million by 1917 and the company becoming recognized for
innovations in design as well as manufacturing quality. 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 of furniture:
Thomasville dining tables, buffets and chairs.
To survive the Great Depression, the company stopped paying
dividends to stockholders and management took a cut in salary.
Then, in 1933 the company began a series of trade classes
which enabled hundreds of their 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,
including: double decker bunk beds for the Army, wooden plugs
for bombs, tent stakes, wooden spatulas and rolling pins.
And with 597 company men serving in the war, the first group
of women reported for work in March of 1942.
During the 1950's, sales reached $17 million, many innovations
in machinery were made and the company's reputation for crafting
quality furniture grew. In the '60s, the company (under the
direction of Tom A. Finch) received a new name, Thomasville
Furniture Industries, Inc. In 1968, it was acquired by Armstrong
World Industries. In the 70's, Thomasville entered the contract
market, providing furnishings for hotels and inns, primarily
in the United States. In 1984, they expanded into Government
sales, and their products can be found in military facilities
worldwide. In December 1995, Thomasville was purchased by
Furniture Brands International, Inc., a major residential
furniture company located in St. Louis, MO.
Today, Thomasville Furniture Industries is a full-line furniture
manufacturer with dedicated galleries in more than 400 leading
independent retail furniture stores. Additionally, there are
over 160 Thomasville Home Furnishing stores which carry only
Thomasville products.
In October 2007, Ed Teplitz was named as CEO of Thomasville,
replacing Nancy Webster, who had served in that post since
August 2005.
Thomasville Cabinetry, sold at retail by Home Depot, is made
by Kemper Cabinets, a unit of MasterBrand Cabinets, Inc.,
owned by Fortune Brands.
The corporate offices and showrooms are still located along
the railroad tracks in Thomasville, NC, but most manufacturing
has been transferred to China.
The famous Big Chair, an 18-foot reproduction of a Duncan
Phyfe design (first erected in 1922 and rebuilt in 1951) still
stands in the town square as a symbol of the mutual success
of a now famous chair company - and the town that cherishes
its nickname, "Chair City". |
