Bassett Furniture
 | |
| Public (NASDAQ: BSET) | |
| Founded | 1902 |
| Founder | J. D. Bassett, Charles C. Bassett, Samuel H. Bassett, and Reed L. Stone |
| Headquarters | Bassett, Virginia |
Key people | Robert Spilman Jr (CEO) |
| Products | Home furnishings and fixtures |
Number of employees | 1,329 (2009) |
| Website |
www |
Bassett Furniture is a furniture manufacturer and retailer, headquartered in Bassett, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1902, by John David Bassett, Charles C. Bassett, Samuel H. Bassett, and Reed L. Stone. Bassett Furniture is one of the oldest furniture manufacturers in Virginia and has been producing hand-crafted furniture for over 100 years.
Milestones
Employees of Bassett Furniture circa 1900
Old Bassett warehouse (2010)
- In 1900, Bassett Furniture Company was started by John David Bassett, Charles Columbus Bassett, Samuel H. Bassett, and Reed L. Stone; which began as a sawmill. It then became a furniture company after J.D. Bassett took a trip to Winston-Salem, NC, to view a manufacturing company. They then pooled their assets together, $29,000 for a business that grossed $60,000, of which $15,000 was profit.
- In January 1918, the Bassett plant burnt to the ground.
- In 1919, the plant was rebuilt with brick and modernized. 250 additional workers were hired.
- By 1921, the company had doubled in size.
- By 1925, the company had again doubled again; a fire cost the company $800,000.
- In 1928, the company moved nine miles into Martinsville and added Craig Furniture Manufacturing which became known as WM Bassett Company.
- In 1929, another expansion program doubled the size of the Martinsville plant
- In 1930, they announced consolidation and merged the three Bassett Furniture Companies into a single corporation.
- In 1930, John D. Bassett retired as president.
- In January 1934, they purchased Ramsey Furniture Manufacturing Company which became home of Bassett Superior Lines.
- During World War II, the company's main plant in Bassett, Virginia produced wooden truck frames for troop haulers in Europe.[1]
- In 1949, Bassett Furniture reached their highest net sales ever recorded.
- In 1957, the Bassett Chair Company was established.
- In 1960, Bassett Furniture became the world's largest manufacturer of wood and initiated their first nationwide marketing campaign.
- In 1964, the company became the first to advertise in Reader's Digest.
- In 1967, Bassett Furniture opened their first retail outlet.
- In 1971, the company purchased E.B. Malone Bedding Company.
- In 1984, Bassett Furniture launched the Bassett Gallery Program.
- In 1999, the company sold its mattress division.
- In 2004, Bassett Furniture acquired all of LRG Furniture stores.
- In 2007, Bassett Furniture, unable to compete against competition of imports from Asian countries, closed down local plants that employed thousands and began importing wood from lower-wage factories in China, Vietnam, and Indonesia
- On April 10, 2009, Bassett posted an 8.7 million dollar loss.
- On January 25, 2012, John D. Bassett III, who had left Bassett Furniture Co., announced he had invested $8 million to buy and re-open a vacant factory, using money he received as the result of a successful antidumping case he’d won against a Chinese competitor.[2] The re-opened factory is a part of Vaughan-Bassett company, which is distinct from Bassett Furniture Co.
Bassett headquarters (2010)
See also
Virginia portal
References
- General references
- "$800,000 Fire At Bassett." Feb. 24, 1925.
- "The Decline of an American Furniture Maker." The New Yorker. July 10, 2014.http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/the-decline-of-an-american-furniture-maker
- "Bassett More Than a Brand Name." Roanoke Times. July 31, 1983.
- "Bassett Furniture Industries of Bassett Virginia." Virginia Record. Sept. 1959.
- "Over 100 Years." Bassett Heritage Notes. Sept. 14, 2002.
- Macy, Beth (2014). Factory Man: How One Furniture Maker Battled Offshoring, Stayed Local - And Helped Save an American Town. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0316231436.
- Citations
- ↑ Grover H. McCall, Superintendent of the plant during World War II
- ↑ "'Factory Man': How John Bassett III Fought for His Furniture Business". Wall Street Journal. July 15, 2014. Retrieved 2014-08-16.
External links
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