Summary

By the mid-nineties, a large portion of furniture making had been shifted to China. American manufacturers believed that the bedroom furniture segment would not be lost due to the exorbitant cost to ship the bulky furniture. China was increasing the quality of the furniture it manufactured while still keeping costs down. Moh stayed ahead of costs by relying on labor from developing markets.

Due to lagging sales, Spilman was pushed out and officially retired in August 1997. Bassett had slid from the top to number seven among furniture makers. Spilman’s son Rob was named president and COO of Bassett Industries but lost out on the CEO position to Paul Fulton who helped run Sara Lee and other large corporations. Fulton adopted a blended policy to combat importers. They would beat prices when possible but when not possible they would outsource the work.

Inspired...