Furniture business falls victim to 'China price'

Northeast PA Business Journal ^ | 02/01/2005 | Robert Curran

[Pondman88]

Dam Chinese.

[Liberty Tree Surgeon]

I will never by Chinese furniture again. Did it once without knowing it (bought from a guy selling "his" possessions, only to find he was using his house as a showroom and a local wholesale firm as his warehouse). Crap is falling apart. Next, I'll save to pay double the cost of the Chinese crap and get ten times the quality. If there's any to be had in the US, that is.

[RoseofTexas]

I've always loved Thomasville furniture, BUT it was outreach for my budget. I love their stuff! They cater to families with over above middle and rich incomes...:(

[ContemptofCourt]

I wonder why Stanley Furniture (STLY) and Hooker Furniture (HOFT) are doing so well.....doesn't seem to be hurting their sales.

[RoseofTexas]

Oops..Out of reach!

[GraceCoolidge]

We just bought new living room furniture from a company based in Kansas. We shopped around pretty aggressively... the Chinese stuff was cheap & shoddy. There was no way we would have bought it.... we buy our non-upholstered furniture from a local outlet, also American made. It's there if you look hard enough....

[pillbox_girl]

Plan to understand this:

1. Take the price of cheap chinese labor.
2. Take the price of expensive U.S. labor.
3. Add up the total tax and other government regulation burden placed on U.S. labor (including minimum wage, mandatory benefits like social security, "environmental" controls, and on and on).
4. Subtract line 3 from line 2.
5. Compare line 4 with line 1.

Now can anyone explain why furniture makers in the U.S. are going out of business?

[TXBSAFH]

My brother bought A CHICOM bedroom set, paid $3000 for it. It is four years old and the finish is literally peeling off in spots and the draw hardware is falling apart. He is changing the hardware and refinishing it this month. It was chicom crud.

[Publius6961]

The U.S. furniture industry is so busy thinking of ways to "level the playing" feld through tariffs, that they are ignoring other less obvious avenues of attack.

The finishes for instance, probably violate every EPA standard for volatility, toxicity and outgassing there is...
The same is probably true of exporting bugs and wood insects up the wazoo.
This may come as a surprise for anyone who has inadvertently bought some of the stuff.

Appearance wise they are marvelous, but when it comes to workmanship they will start falling apart from normal use in a very short time.
It's like the Japanese workmanship in the 50s.

[Publius6961]

He overpaid by about 50%.

[TXBSAFH]

He knows that now.

[beaver fever]

It's a plot to put Unpainted Arizona out of business.

[Publius6961]

He knows that now.

I meant compared to what the Chinese stuff usually should sell for.

[Mygirlsmom]

Next, I'll save to pay double the cost of the Chinese crap and get ten times the quality. If there's any to be had in the US, that is.

That's the difference between price and cost. If you buy quality, the initial price is higher, but the cost (i.e, replacement - and having it actually function and look good and provide an enjoyable experience while you're using it, etc. evens out over time.)

Look for Amish/Mennonite furniture I work for a store that's almost exclusively Amish built furniture - we have almost no imported pieces. Rock solid - gorgeous - and surprisingly contemporary styling - the Amish have become quite savvy businesspeople.

[TET1968]

Just returned from Beijing where I designed and furnished an apartment overlooking a huge Olympic constuction site. I spent three days in the Design center, custom designing a truck load of cabinet work.10 days later I'm home and the furniture has been built, delivered and set up for about $5,000.US

I have over 30 years experience in the design and retailing of high end contemporary furniture. That same custom order in the US would have retailed in the US for about $35,000 delivered.
The wholesale cost would have been about $14,000 + Freight in & Freight Out.
While I did see Ikea type quality on display,edgebanding peeling off, that sort of thing... The quality I was able to obtain was of a high standard.

[oceanview]

so what would you like to eliminate, the US wages, the environmental standards? both?

[Willie Green]

I wonder why Stanley Furniture (STLY) and Hooker Furniture (HOFT) are doing so well.....doesn't seem to be hurting their sales.

Well page 4 of Stanley's 2003 Annual Report says this:

Approximately 20% of the Company’s sales volume in 2003 came from products sourced from six countries with China representing the largest volume. Approximately 30% of 2004 sales is expected to come from sourced products.

I imagine Hooker Furniture must also be increasing the amount of imported crap they're selling.

[TheSpottedOwl]

"We've had to close a lot of plants," Stegeman said. "We've closed 20 out of 23 plants because of the prices from China. Several thousand have been laid off. For our industry, it's been really difficult on the wood side, which includes bedroom and dining room furniture."

Stegeman said the company would love to continue manufacturing in Pennsylvania, but added that "it's impossible to compete today because of the China price." The International Trade Commission, he said, has imposed a duty but it's not high enough and doesn't make facilities competitive.

Economic pincer movement. Not exactly related to the topics we usually discuss, but worth reading...

[JoeV1]

I bought Chinese furniture also. I didn't have any problems with the quality of it but I did notice that about 2-3 hours after I bought my L/R and B/R furniture I wanted to buy more.