The Idea Blog

“North Carolina has lost more than 26,000 jobs in furniture manufacturing since 2000. In the 1980s, about half the furniture sold in the U.S. was made in this state; employment shriveled 41% from 1990 to 2006.”

Thus begins one of the best pieces of reporting ever printed in Business North Carolina. For years I’ve complained to friends, associates and colleagues that there is a dearth of business journalism available in the Carolinas, and I’ve pointed to this particular magazine as an abject failure. But Amanda Parry’s “Would Work” in the May 2008 issue.

The story is about the Bob Timberlake Collection, licensed by Lexington Home Brands. There was a time when Lexington’s domestic factories made the collection, but Lexington closed its last U.S. plant in December 2005, “moving the last of its case-good manufacturing to China.”

In unique twist, Timberlake himself became the decider for where the furniture bearing his name would be produced. “He licenses rights to produce the collections to Lexington Home Brands.” And in March of 2006, “a group of investors - including Timberlake’s sone - bought Plant 2 [in Linwood, NC, an old Lexington facility], signed a contract to make The World of Bob Timberlake…”

The story is thorough, glowing, yet realistic about the chances of this happening very much or very often. It’s especially interesting to me because of our own client’s - Stanley Furniture’s - commitment to keep as many of its facilities producing furniture in North Carolina and Virginia.

Read Amanda Parry’s article. (It’s not online yet, but should be in a couple of weeks.) You’ll come away with a broader perspective about offshoring.

Tags: Timberlake, furniture, offshoring