Not a day goes by that I don’t hear someone say “Is there ANY furniture still being made in America?” There was a time –not too long ago – when I would have probably answered “Yes, but probably not for long.”
I’d have been wrong (a not-infrequent occurrence, according to my wife) if I had said that. There IS furniture being made in America… and the amount being built here is going UP instead of down. Let’s take a look at why the trend has reversed…
- Labor costs in China have risen drastically over the last few years. The average Chinese worker is no longer willing to work for pennies a day, and he or she prefers to work in a nice clean electronics plant with air conditioning and heat. Higher wages, better working conditions, a drastically reduced chance of losing fingers – or worse – to a lathe or saw… who wouldn’t want to make that change?
- Transportation costs have skyrocketed with the price of fuel. A few years ago it cost roughly $2,200 to send a 40-foot shipping container across the Pacific… I’m told that figure has risen to $5,000 or more today.
- Environmental issues have come into play as well. The Chinese government has finally realized that they must take steps to clean up their air and water. Remember when they had to close all the factories around Beijing months before the Olympics to clear the air? Did you know that 7 of the 9 most polluted rivers in the world are in China? The cleanup will cost billions – and those billions will come from increased prices on Chinese products.
While all this was going on, many American furniture companies – especially upholstery companies and smaller wood furniture companies – stuck to their knitting and did what they do best – produce a high-quality product that consumers can trust and use for years. These companies hung on through thick and thin – tightening belts to survive – and they’re with us today.
Visit us at Bowen Town & Country Furniture in Winston-Salem, NC. We are located at 1910 Mooney Street, right off Stratdford Road…near Hanes Mall.
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