You hear so much bad news about the furniture industry in North Carolina. How about a little hopeful news. The Charlotte Business Journal has it:
Williams-Sonoma Inc.’s big move into Hickory marks a milestone for the company’s furniture operation — and Catawba County’s key industry.
The national home-furnishings retailer expects to spend $22.5 million on the project in Hickory, which it acknowledges is something of an experiment. From two 400,000-square-foot buildings, Williams-Sonoma will determine if consumers want quick delivery and setup of its upholstered, made-in-the-USA furniture.
“It’s a major shift for us,” says Eric Fulcher, vice president of upholstered operations.
Williams-Sonoma will be making its own furniture for the first time at the plants, which are expected to eventually employ 820 workers in Hickory’s Fairgrove Business Park.
Initial production could begin in the first 400,000-square-foot building within three years, says Scott Millar, president of the Catawba County Economic Development Corp. Construction of the first plant is expected to start this summer.
The Williams-Sonoma project, which will be carried out through the company’s Sutter Street Manufacturing subsidiary, may show that furniture production can thrive in the United States, Millar says. “There has been a perception that all furniture production is now overseas.”
Catawba has maintained a solid core of furniture makers despite heavy losses in the industry in recent years.
Century Furniture and Sherrill Furniture Co. each employ more than 800 production workers there.
But Williams-Sonoma brings a trendy national brand to town, Millar says. “The next generation furniture maker is here — the catalog-savvy retailer.”
The project is expensive for the state and Hickory. Incentives could reach nearly $11 million, and the city is giving Williams-Sonoma 60 acres in Fairgrove Business Park.