Century Furniture is located in Hickory, North Carolina. There are three factories that deal with different parts of the manufacturing process. We toured the upholstery factory and the wood furniture.
Our tour began in the larger wooden furniture factory. It is huge, it is not working at full capacity these days since the economy has affected the custom furniture business as well but there are still many skilled workers employed here. What amazed me the most was the atmosphere in the factory. The workers love their work and they are all on first name basis with the top management.
The second most amazing thing was watching veneer being made. Somehow it has always seemed as if solid wood is stronger and better than veneer. Better be rethinking that. The number of layers that go into making veneer makes it amazingly strong and durable. It is a very labor intensive process and it is something that I wish everyone could see. It is eye-opening, to say the least. The women we watched working on it was meticulous.
We got to see some of the custom furniture that has been completed. There are pieces that cost many thousands of dollars. The amazing thing is however that you don’t really have to be a millionaire to purchase some of these pieces. It isn’t going to be inexpensive but for a piece that will become a family heirloom, the price seems very fair.
Did we buy any furniture here? No, we didn’t. It wasn’t really an option at the factory, there is no retail outlet. However, at the Hickory Furniture Mart, there are some pieces from Century. If you are looking for American made, quality furniture, you will be hard pressed to find any that is of higher quality than what is produced here in North Carolina.
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