Thomasville Furniture Industries was a furniture manufacturer based in

Thomasville, North Carolina Thomasville is a city in Davidson County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 27,183 at the 2020 census. The city was once notable for its furniture industry, as were its neighbors High Point and Lexington. This Piedmont Triad comm ...

, with dedicated galleries in more than 400 retail furniture stores. Additionally, there are 30 Thomasville Home Furnishing stores which carry only Thomasville products. The company had been a subsidiary of

Clayton, Missouri Clayton is a city in and the seat of St. Louis County, Missouri. It borders the independent city of St. Louis. The population was 17,355 at the 2020 census. Organized in 1877, the city was named after Ralph Clayton, who donated the land for the ...

-based Furniture Brands International since 1995.

Heritage Home Group Heritage Home Group LLC, formed to purchase most assets of the defunct Furniture Brands International, was a High Point, North Carolina-based home furnishings company. It owned the brands Broyhill, Lane, Thomasville, and Drexel Heritage. Histor ...

bought most of that company's assets in 2013 and announced the end of Thomasville Furniture's operations in Thomasville in 2014. Thomasville Cabinetry is crafted by MasterBrand Cabinets, Inc. a division of Fortune Brands Home and Security (FBHS). MasterBrand Cabinets produces Thomasville branded product for Thomasville Furniture Industries at several North American facilities, and sells the Thomasville Cabinetry brand exclusively through The Home Depot. Schrock Cabinetry of Illinois, for example, is one manufacturer that makes cabinets sold by the Home Depot with the Thomasville Cabinetry name stamped in it. 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".

History

Thomasville Furniture began as Thomasville Chair Company in 1904, making 500 to 1000 chairs a day by 1905. Thomas Jefferson Finch and Charles F. Finch of

Randolph County Randolph County is the name of eight counties in the United States: *Randolph County, Alabama *Randolph County, Arkansas *Randolph County, Georgia *Randolph County, Illinois *Randolph County, Indiana *Randolph County, Missouri *Randolph County, Nort ...

bought the company in 1907. Lambeth Furniture began in 1901 and was sold to Knox Furniture in 1928 and Thomasville Chair in 1932. In 1968, Thomasville Furniture became part of

Armstrong World Industries Armstrong World Industries, Inc. is a Pennsylvania corporation incorporated in 1891. It is an international designer and manufacturer of walls and ceilings. Based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, AWI has a global manufacturing network of 26 facilities ...

, which sold the company to Interco (later

Furniture Brands International Furniture Brands International, Inc., was a Clayton, Missouri-based home furnishings company. Some of the brands it owned in the furniture industry included Broyhill, Altavista, Virginia#Lane Home Furnishings, Lane, Thomasville Furniture Industries ...

) in November 1995. Starting with the Spring 2011

High Point Furniture Market The High Point Market (formerly the International Home Furnishings Market and the Southern Furniture Market), held in High Point, North Carolina, is the largest home furnishings industry trade show in the world, with over 10 million square feet ...

, Thomasville Furniture Industries moved its showroom space from Thomasville to the

International Home Furnishings Center The High Point Market (formerly the International Home Furnishings Market and the Southern Furniture Market), held in High Point, North Carolina, is the largest home furnishings industry trade show in the world, with over 10 million square feet ...

. The five-story 225,000-square-foot former headquarters building, which was built in 1958 on East Main Street in Thomasville and also housed

Drexel Heritage Heritage Home Group LLC, formed to purchase most assets of the defunct Furniture Brands International, was a High Point, North Carolina-based home furnishings company. It owned the brands Broyhill, Lane, Thomasville, and Drexel Heritage. Histo ...

, was listed for sale in 2013. The 100 people still there were to be moved to Eastchester Drive in High Point, where Maitland-Smith and Henredon were located. On January 21, 2014, the company's new owner,

, announced that all operations in Thomasville would be shut down March 21. 84 jobs would be lost in the city. Parent company Heritage Home Group, however, moved to Thomasville while work was being completed on its planned High Point headquarters. With the sale of Lane Furniture, Heritage Home Group announced in 2017 that it would reorganize into three groups. Thomasville & Co. would include the Thomasville, Drexel and Henredon brands. Heritage Home Group plans to sell Thomasville & Co. to one buyer. On August 31, 2018,

Authentic Brands Group Authentic Brands Group LLC (ABG) is an American brand management company headquartered in New York City. Its holdings include various apparel, athletics, and entertainment brands, for which it partners with other companies to license and merchand ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, known for buying businesses in trouble but also for

outsourcing Outsourcing is an agreement in which one company hires another company to be responsible for a planned or existing activity which otherwise is or could be carried out internally, i.e. in-house, and sometimes involves transferring employees and ...

, made a bid.

References

External links

Thomasville Furniture

Thomasville Kitchen Cabinets

Thomasville Lighting

Thomasville Hardwood Flooring

Heritage Home Group
{{Authority control Furniture companies of the United States Companies based in Missouri Retail companies established in 1904 Retail companies disestablished in 2014 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2013 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2018 Thomasville, North Carolina Authentic Brands Group