Hello all,
Last year during the SARS epidemic I read one of the ramifications was
that the quality of wooden furniture coming from Asia would suffer.
Mainly because most of the Quality Control staff consisted of westerners
working there for American companies. And most of them didn't want to
travel there. Quite understandable. What really surprised me was that
they said 90% of furniture sold here is now made in China.... Is that
an accurate figure???
As a Tool and Die Maker, my trade has been decimated by
Chinese/Taiwanese competition. Has the wood working trade experienced
anything like this? A tool maker here makes around $25 an hour, a
Taiwanese tool maker makes half that and his Chinese counterpart makes
$3 a day. That's no typo, $3 a day in China. And to avoid a political
slant, I won't bring up tariffs.
My preference in furniture is Amish, which as far as I know is not
imported. I doubt that red oak can grow in Asia.
Are there any craftsmen (or craftswomen) or manufacturers that have
felt this kind of competition? TIA, Mark
BTW, I hope to graduate from lurker to worthy contributor one day.
Since I have sold some income property, I now have the time (and money)
to get back to woodworking. Just making my shopping list to fill my
basement.
nospam wrote:
> travel there. Quite understandable. What really surprised me was that
> they said 90% of furniture sold here is now made in China.... Is that
> an accurate figure???
Based on my little section of the market, I'd say yes. I've been working
for a furniture distributor (reseller) for going on seven years now.
Taking just the futon end of things, I've seen our line go from 98%
American to 98% imported in that time. I personally picked up the final
shipment just before the doors closed forever at one factory, and I've
known of three others to fold in this time. The last one is hanging on by
a thread, with several of its employees gone. I used to pick up so much
stuff that it was a real problem in geometry figuring out how to jam it all
onto the truck. The last time I was there, I picked up two pallets half
full, and a box of spare hardware parts.
Decimated sounds right.
For our part, the boss said he had no choice but to pick up the imports.
Sell what people will buy, or go broke like the factories we're no longer
buying from. It's an ugly thing, but I guess I'd rather shove cheap
imports off my truck than go drive for someone else. I frequently hate
what I do for a living, but I like the people for whom I do it very much.
I don't want to see my company go belly up.
> Are there any craftsmen (or craftswomen) or manufacturers that have
> felt this kind of competition? TIA, Mark
Everyone, everywhere is feeling that kind of competition. Upholsterd goods
are one of the last segments of furniture that's still predominantly
produced in the US. Rumor has it that the Chinese have figured out a way
to ship that stuff without it getting funky in transit, so within a few
years we'll be seeing Chinese sofas, and even Chinese mattresses putting
our people down.
> BTW, I hope to graduate from lurker to worthy contributor one day.
> Since I have sold some income property, I now have the time (and money)
> to get back to woodworking. Just making my shopping list to fill my
> basement.
Makin' a list, checkin' it twice, gonna get me a saw that cuts really
nice...
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
Confirmed post number: 17898 Approximate word count: 536940
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
When a customer comes in and says "I found one at Standard Furniture
(Canadian furniture discount warehouse) for half what you want to charge..."
I say, "Great! Go buy it then" There is no point trying to debate the
differences. These sort of folks are cheap; quality and refinement don't
matter to them. And they're high maintenance customers not worth the hassle
anyways.
Most furniture is made in Asia, South America... and it shows; it's always
been that way. I highly doubt good quality furniture will ever come from an
Asian or other developing nations factories. Yes a machine can carve out a
claw and ball foot, but it pales miserably next to a hand carved one. And
for most, price is far more important than beauty and quality. Therefore
you will always have a ready waiting market for cheap ugly furniture.
Those who want a good quality, well refined piece will seek out a local
reputable craftsman. Those are the ones professional long standing
woodworkers do business with. It's always been a small market, I don't see
it ever changing. When your name gets known, you've always got work.
That's seems to be one thing with the rich, they want their luxuries even
when they're laying off 3/4 of their staff.
"@sbc(nospam)global.net" <""Nobody\"@sbc(nospam)global.net"> wrote in
message news:[email protected]...
> Hello all,
> Last year during the SARS epidemic I read one of the ramifications was
> that the quality of wooden furniture coming from Asia would suffer.
> Mainly because most of the Quality Control staff consisted of westerners
> working there for American companies. And most of them didn't want to
> travel there. Quite understandable. What really surprised me was that
> they said 90% of furniture sold here is now made in China.... Is that
> an accurate figure???
> As a Tool and Die Maker, my trade has been decimated by
> Chinese/Taiwanese competition. Has the wood working trade experienced
> anything like this? A tool maker here makes around $25 an hour, a
> Taiwanese tool maker makes half that and his Chinese counterpart makes
> $3 a day. That's no typo, $3 a day in China. And to avoid a political
> slant, I won't bring up tariffs.
> My preference in furniture is Amish, which as far as I know is not
> imported. I doubt that red oak can grow in Asia.
> Are there any craftsmen (or craftswomen) or manufacturers that have
> felt this kind of competition? TIA, Mark
>
> BTW, I hope to graduate from lurker to worthy contributor one day.
> Since I have sold some income property, I now have the time (and money)
> to get back to woodworking. Just making my shopping list to fill my
> basement.
>