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U.S. Company Closing

T

Traditional Farmer

Well-known Member
Location
Virginia
A small furniture company Clore Furniture in Madison Virginia is in the process of closing up.They've been a quality furniture builder for many years making the type furniture you
hand down from generation to generation.Their sales have declined over the years although for the quality their furniture is really a good deal.People say they want quality US built
products but aren't willing to pay a little extra to get them apparently.
 
I'm only 25 miles from them and have some Clore furniture. Locally, their furniture is still a source of pride. Clore furniture gets handed down. I'm holding out hope that someone will step up and keep it going. Seems more and more people would rather go to the big box and buy some piece of c**p stamped out of press-board by the thousands.
 
It's a very sad reality. People will say one thing and then do another like run over to Harbor Furniture. It is what it is. But there are more issues at hand that contribute to such things like government restrictions. I don't know how anyone can startup a business anymore. It seems to me like the effort is to prohibit business' and owners, not help them or just get out of the way and allow them to flourish in this land of the free and home of the brave. A couple of examples are when you hear on the news that some agency steps in and shuts down a kids lemonade stand because it didn't have the proper permits to operate at the end of the driveway in some neighborhood, and it does happen. Google it. By me, some Amish folks that made home made fruit pies using fruits picked from their orchards were shutdown because they didn't use canned and already taxed fruit. I'm forgetting what the new or proposed regulation is or was, too early in the morning, but I could be in serious trouble for "giving" my neighbor an apple off of my trees and a bowl of cherries off of my trees. "Giving" them away.

Our country is a changing one for countless reasons and we have nobody to thank but ourselves for it.

Good luck, and hold on.

Mark
 

A year or two ago it was a big story in the news that a furniture manufacturer in North or South Carolina was bringing production back from China. Many times union workers vote to close plants, as they are just unaware how medical cost and insurance rates have increased in the last fifteen years.
 
Read "Factory Man", by Beth Macy. American manufacturers cut their own throats by shipping production overseas, only to have their "partners" cut them out of the business.
 
Mark - IN,
If I want something nice made out of wood, either I'll make it or I go to Ill to Amish country and have them make it for me.

When my wife was alive, we would go shopping every August for her birthday present. I have many very nice oak pieces, weren't cheap but not particle board. Hope my kids have room for them when I'm gone.

In 1998 I wanted an oak office desk. Oak express said they don't make a 100% oak desk. The Amish had one and it's heavy.

So there will always be some quality oak furniture made in the USA, just have to know where to find it.

geo
 
Yea, lots of steps in the process.....

Union vs management vs buyers that want cheapest bill. An eternal battle there.

Today if you build a parking lot you have to engineer a holding pond for it - what other manufaturing company does that, starts out in the parking lot with huge nonproductive expenses on any new business.

We all want the best and forever medical care for us and ours; but we don't want to pay for it and we sure don't want to pay for those other people to have medical care.

EPA. No other country has nothing like that. We probably don't want no EPA either that doesn't work so well. But when they study cow gas and create the money pits of tier 4 Diesel engines....... Oh boy. Excess money going to non productive stuff.

Paul
 
We have 2 furniture stores here in small town of 2,500 population. I was looking for something a couple years ago, I forget what, but I could not find ONE thing that was solid wood! All of my living room and dining room furniture is Amish made cherry, made in Homes Co., Ohio.
 
Most people no longer want quality products. Outside my shop I have a scrap pile of cheap equipment.Cost more to fix than it is worth. I have several customers that I have told to go buy a quality product.They will show back up with the same piece of junk I just threw away.One man has paid more for cheap weedeaters. Than what a quality one would have cost him.In the first place.
 
While I'm not a furniture manufacturer, I do make custom furniture and even those folks willing to pay to have something made want me to take as many shortcuts as I can to keep the price down. I don't believe I've ever known anyone that was willing to pay for quality. Then it's difficult to tell quality. I've repaired a lot of antique furniture with dreadful construction.
 
There are many reasons for business to close. I would bet the biggest for this furniture manufacture is cost of there product. The Walmartization of the general public has made quality a low priority to the majority of the population. Most shop price only anymore. Companies are responding to that fact.

My MIL was an excellent example of this. Over the time I knew her she had four or five sets of living room furniture. She would buy the Cheaper stuff and then have to replace it in 4-5 years when it was worn out. She would give 70% of good price for junk but would not pay 100% of good price for any reason.

We are seeing the same thing in many types of businesses. One small example is Clipper finger nail clippers. They made quality clippers now you can't find their clippers anymore. I would bet that they are closed. Cheap imports replace them.

Look at lawn maintenance equipment. All of it is made of lower quality than it was 30-40 years ago. The market has driven that. John Deere is selling mowers in Home Depot because they had studies done that showed that the average Home Depot customer would not set foot inside a JD dealership even if the product was cheaper than what the box stores where selling. So while JD had the largest percentage of the premium market they had very small share of the "value/cheap" customer market. So they started making and selling cheap mowers.

We are getting what the public at large demands with their votes and buying habits. We just need to look in the mirror to see some of what is wrong.
 
>Absolutely not the situation with Clore Furniture

Just because a company didn't outsource their manufacturing doesn't mean they're not collateral damages from companies that did. It's a race to the bottom with no winners.
 
Did the company sell directly to the public or did they sell mostly to other retailers (Slumberland, Nebraska Furniture Mart, etc.?
 
(quoted from post at 08:16:30 06/15/16) Yea, lots of steps in the process.....

Union vs management vs buyers that want cheapest bill. An eternal battle there.

Today if you build a parking lot you have to engineer a holding pond for it - what other manufaturing company does that, starts out in the parking lot with huge nonproductive expenses on any new business.

We all want the best and forever medical care for us and ours; but we don't want to pay for it and we sure don't want to pay for those other people to have medical care.

EPA. No other country has nothing like that. We probably don't want no EPA either that doesn't work so well. But when they study cow gas and create the money pits of tier 4 Diesel engines....... Oh boy. Excess money going to non productive stuff.

Paul
Click to expand...

Bingo! You said a mouthful
 
My,mother lived in Madison VA before she died,Good co. and good furniture as far as I know.I also like hand made furniture,and try to buy seally oak.Theres a business close to me that makes chairs and other furniture.Its close to 600.00 dollars a kitchen chair.I know there sales are way down

jimmy
 
Well said, Paul.

Government has made the cost of doing business in this country prohibitive in many/most sectors vis a vis more sane countries. The results are inevitable and , sadly, the process is accelerating.

Those of us with an in-depth understanding of history, allowing one to see the scene from a historical perspective recognize that the United States is collapsing from within at an unprecedented rate, indeed light speed. It took the Romans 500 - 1,000 years. We are doing it in a generation.

Dean
 
Don't know their situation, but many times the elder founders, the craftsmen, can no longer do the work or have passed on. Leaving the company to family members who slowly compromise the quality or are just not interested.

Saw that happen to a place I used to work. One relative embezzled funds from the company, the others just didn't care...
 

It's always been that people want a bargain and don't know that cheap is seldom inexpensive. The generation now are more concerned with the latest electronic gadget. They will spend $600 for a phone that may last 2 years but balk at paying $500 for a chair that will last for generations. It's the world we live in. Sad.
 
The best example is Vice-Grip originally made by Petersen Mfg. in Dewitte, Ne. Irwin bought them just for the v-g name and turned them into a soft flimsy piece of crap. It makes me mad every time I pick one up and want to write them and tell them my thoughts, not that they would care anyways. I bought a few Milwaukee's and they seem better. I am always on the look out for Petersen originals.
 
When you say it gets 'handed down', that's well and good; but once you have all the furniture you need, there is not a lot of demand for any more. If it lasts forever, there isn't much of a replacement market. In other words, you build it TOO good.
 

Another huge factor is the great reduction in need for furniture. Just recently I read of a study where something like 40% of people in the 25-35 age bracket are living with family. twenty years ago they were all out buying homes or renting apartments and furnishing them. I am sure that they will buy a piece here and there, but demand for furniture is probably down by a third.
 
Part of the decline in the economy has been the next generation not leaving the house. A full 30% of all 18 to 34 year olds are still living with their parents. When a person leaves the home they get a place to live, they buy their own appliances and furniture, they need their own tools, their own lawn mower, etc.... all are big expenditures that help companies like this furniture store and thousands other like them drive the economy.

Think of it, a full 30% of the youngest ADULTs (probably misusing the word) generation don't contribute enough to the economy to sustain themselves. Numbers like that should have the people that are looking at social security as a primary source of income shaking in their shoes.
 
People of my/our age thinking are relics regulated to the musuem minded generation. In other words: outdated, outmoded and living in the past. There is no living for the future generation, it is the "now generation".
 
(quoted from post at 05:29:24 06/15/16)
A year or two ago it was a big story in the news that a furniture manufacturer in North or South Carolina was bringing production back from China. Many times union workers vote to close plants, as they are just unaware how medical cost and insurance rates have increased in the last fifteen years.
Click to expand...

Huh? ...... I don't get what it is that you are trying to get across. Are you just 'blaming Bush', in this case,the unions?....... Or, do I just 'not get it'? Enlighten me, please! :)
 
Much of the problem lies in marketing. If they are a small company(I have never heard of them here in Ohio, Florida, or North Carolina when I lived in those areas) they need to expand their market area. Here in our part of Ohio there are many Amish furniture manufacturers, usually a family business but alone they don't fare well. Now, many have joined together to form sales and marketing strategies. Their furniture is quality and should last a lifetime. As a note aside: Some years ago in the 70's we bought Drexel Heritage furniture expecting to make it last for our lifetime. However, after 12 years it started to fall apart. I called Drexel and their response was "we don't make furniture to last anymore as the average household changes it every 8 years."
 
Many of those that have jobs aren't willing to "live poor" like many of us had to starting out in life, and their parents don't have the nads to motivate them out the door. gm
 
yeah I know about that but I think it is Bull Shirt(years ago son got sent home from hi school for wearing a bull shirt T shirt) WE know lots of young people living at home and most of them are just plain lazy and get the service benefit from parents. Free heat, cool, food, insurance, and have little responsibility. That, my friends is the crux of it all. Lazy and escaping responsibility. WE have a grand daughter, married with one child. who lived in apartments for 5 years and decided to rent a house. That was 6 months ago. Now they are going back to an apartment because of lawn mowing, cleaning and other housework that robs them of their playtime. Very good example.
 
brutus, I have a pair of the Petersen originals that I got through my father in laws estate. They do not have the "knuckle buster" release lever on them. I keep close track of them! Probably 50's model.
 
(quoted from post at 07:42:42 06/15/16)
(quoted from post at 05:29:24 06/15/16)
A year or two ago it was a big story in the news that a furniture manufacturer in North or South Carolina was bringing production back from China. Many times union workers vote to close plants, as they are just unaware how medical cost and insurance rates have increased in the last fifteen years.
Click to expand...

Huh? ...... I don't get what it is that you are trying to get across. Are you just 'blaming Bush', in this case,the unions?....... Or, do I just 'not get it'? Enlighten me, please! :)
Click to expand...

Not bashing anyone. I have observed numerous times that unions will not budge, or will give only slightly, and then only with concessions from management, on taking on any share of their healthcare costs. Small businesses and their employees have been aware for many years what healthcare insurance premiums have cost. I have had personal discussions with people who because of changing jobs, suddenly found out what health insurance premiums were costing their employer. They were just incredulous. I have had people tell me that they have to pay the outrageous sum of $400.00 a month for health insurance. Just Clueless!!! Without knowledge of the management's sometimes precarious position, and union bosses who knew but weren't talking, the rank and file union members will continue to vote down paying a share of premiums, sometimes until it is too late for the company.
 
When I was growing up my dad (and to a lesser extent my mom) made it a point to be a parent and every one of his kids wanted to get out on their own and be their own boss - lots of kids today are already the boss. I see it when my kids 12 year old friends stand there and say "Mom you gotta go buy me a (insert their desire) Now!" A demand like that would have gotten me two backhands - one for saying it and another for thinking it.


My son's favorite shirt has a picture of Holstein on the front that says "Go Milk Yourself".... So far no problem from the school.
 
The "just out of college" segment doesn't have the room for furniture; can't fit much in a 500 sq ft rathole apartment.

The "mcmansion" segment has the room but can't afford good furniture because they can already barely afford the mortgage.

It seems more and more that the basic cost of housing is absorbing a disproportionate amount of personal income for a lot of people. The areas that have cheaper housing have very little in the way of career advancement.
 
We had a woman working for us that was CONVINCED that when link_disallowedcare passed she would get free health insurance. She got mad as &^%$ when I told her that not only would she be paying for her insurance she'd be paying for someone else's too when it became law. Since January 1st 2013 we've had 80% increase in health insurance costs - family policy now runs about $1800 a month - we used to think a 10% increase was outrageous.

Hers might be free though - we fired her and she's never found (or looked?) a new job.
 
I think all our union ever did was give concessions! It would have been nice for them to be slightly tough once in a great while. But then we were under the rules of the Railway Labor Act and have significant limits.

Our union's priorities were broken down like this:
1. Job safety issues (work with Company)
2. Job security
3. Quality of Life issues
4. Compensation

They always struggled with the bottom three.
 
As I see it there are two choices of furniture. Modern particle board throw away stuff or well made antique or modern solid wood furniture that will last and get handed down through generations. Think twice before assembling that Ikea dresser.
 
What I see and hear is guys saying they are working, but not making much money. I'm talking about plumbers, electricians, building trades in general. Everybody is working for cheap, if you don't do it cheap, somebody else will. Most businesses around here have a lot of competition, starting a new business is tough. One thing to remember, technology is making business more productive, and that means fewer jobs, and fewer businesses.
 
Boy, Ain't that the truth, And that $600 phone has a $100 a month phone bill. Me and wife got two flip phones for $50 per month
 

Across a side street from our church there is a rental duplex. Tenants are constantly in and out. The last one was evicted, with their furniture put out on the street.

There was no danger of their furniture being stolen as it was not worth anything.

KEH
 
Louisiana went through that. They were giving kids tickets because they did not have a permit for their lemonade stand.
They voted is a new law just this past session that exempts any business that makes less than xxxx (think it was like $500 or $1000) per year from needing a permit.
 
Real hard to buy good furniture when a $12.00 dollar an hour job is considered a good pay rate and you're lucky you can get that.

Something Wall street doesn't think about!
 
There is a bit more to the story. They only make early American style furniture. Not everyone wants that style. I happen to like it but many others don't. They are blaming the buying public in general but what did they do to diversify? NOTHING! Their prices keep most of the Wal Mart shoppers away so they were not the issue. Many folks out there still buying quality furniture. But if you are not following trends in home décor as a furniture maker you are dooming yourself to failure.

Rick
 
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