Globalization

The Bassett Furniture Company was the biggest furniture manufacturer in the world and enjoyed that status for decades. Bassett established factories all over the country and was a leader in producing good quality yet affordable furniture targeted for middle America. As time marched on, entrepreneurs in China and Taiwan began to venture into furniture manufacturing and to explore the possibility of entering into the lucrative American market. Larry Moh who had launched a parquet-flooring company in Hong Kong was one of the pioneers of this effort; eventually his operation become a threat to the Southern furniture industry.

Moh was the first Asian to export furniture to Middle America. In doing so he ambushed the Southern furniture manufacturers, catching them completely off-guard and leaving them without recourse. Almost out of nowhere, there was this new and unwelcome presence in the American furniture manufacturing industry the heart and soul of...