The history of Thomasville Furniture spans over a century, beggining as a North Carolina furniture company near High Point, the area considered to be America's furniture capitol to this day. Thomasville would eventually grow to become the furniture giant and household name it has become today, offering full line furniture for living rooms, bedrooms, kitchens, and even bathrooms.
History of Thomasville Furniture
Thomasville Furniture Began as Thomasville Chair Company, named for the sleepy dot-on-the-map railside town where the chairs were fashioned. While the company produced nearly 200 chairs a day, it couldn't cover the cost of materials. Their suppliers, the Finch brothers, were two local timber farmers who decided to take payment as stock. After buying out the other stock holders, the Finch brothers began changing the design and manufacturing quality of what would become Thomasville Furniture, and the company enjoyed annual sales over $1 million by 1917 (that's almost $17 million in 2009 dollars).
Deciding to sell directly to the consumer, the Finch brothers created America's first national furniture sales force, which allowed Thomasville Furniture to sell to any store or home they wished, without the need or interference of an outside representative. Secondly, Thomasville Furniture became the first American company to create furniture for the whole home, which was an unprecedented idea at the time.
Thomasville, like many other American furniture companies, is closely tied to American history. When America went to war, Thomasville went to work making bunk beds for barracks while Lay-Z-Boy created tank seats, and other made wooden military cookware. As the company grew through the second half of the century, Thomasville Furniture gained a widespread reputation as a maker of quality furniture products. This captured the attention of the American public, as well as investors interested in helping the company grow.
Thomasville Furniture changed ownership several times before coming under the umbrella of Furniture Brands International, a group containing other well respected furniture brands like Hickory Chair, Lane, and Broyhill. Today, Thomasville continues to provide top-teir furniture with a luxurious but pragmatic design.
