Factory Man: How One Furniture Maker Battled Offshoring, Stayed Local—and Helped Save an American Town

Factory Man 요약

1. 1

   The Last Stand of an American Factory Man

   

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   What would you do if a Communist Party official suggested you close your family's century-old factories and let him supply you instead-at prices so low they defied economic logic? In 2002, John D. Bassett III, third-generation furniture maker from rural Virginia, found himself in exactly this position. Standing in a dusty Dalian factory near the North Korean border, he watched Chinese businessman He YunFeng unveil plans for an "American Furniture Industrial Park" designed to flood U.S. markets with bedroom sets at what YunFeng called "tuition price"-selling at $100 to capture market share, even at a loss. For most American manufacturers, this moment signaled surrender. For JBIII, it meant war. His subsequent battle against Chinese dumping would make him an outcast among competitors already offshoring production, alienate family members, and ultimately save hundreds of American jobs while revealing globalization's brutal human cost.

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   Sawdust Empire: Building the Bassett Dynasty

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   The Bassett furniture empire began in 1902 when J.D. Bassett, denied loans by his father, borrowed from Uncle Billy Law vowing: "Someday I'll buy and sell you." His wife "Miss Pokey" suggested manufacturing furniture rather than selling lumber. The first factory beside Virginia's Smith River employed fifty workers at five cents an hour. Within three years, the company was debt-free. By 1918, J.D. was shipping furniture nationwide with one million dollars set aside for each child. His business philosophy became family gospel: maintain cash reserves, avoid debt, invest in top machinery, and address problems immediately-"when you see a snake's head, hit it." J.D. strategically funded furniture businesses for family members and trusted managers, spacing them to prevent wage competition. By 1952, Bassett Furniture sold $33 million annually with 3,100 employees. The company town reflected total family control-they owned factories, housing, electricity, police, even the cemetery. White workers lived in decent homes; black workers occupied shanties in "the hollow," paid half the wages for the hottest, dirtiest jobs. C.C. Bassett fathered a child with family maid Julie Ann Barbour-their son Clay lived in a shack, light-skinned enough to "pass" but never accepted into the family. As Junior Thomas observed: "We made 'em rich."

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   Little John's Rebellion: Forging Identity Beyond the Name

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   John Bassett III spent his life escaping the shadow of being "J.D. Bassett's grandson." At Washington and Lee University, he rigged a soda machine to sell beer at furniture-style markups. After graduation, he joined the army, relishing proving himself on merit - driving a Porsche through the Alps and speaking enough German to socialize freely. Returning to Bassett Furniture meant fighting for respect despite his lineage. Though positioned for succession, JBIII faced constant resistance - forced to trade his Porsche for a Chevy, discouraged from dating his German girlfriend. The Bassett women orchestrated his meeting with Pat Vaughan Exum, a fourth cousin, whom he married in 1963. The ultimate betrayal came when his dying father bypassed him for leadership, elevating cousin Ed to chairman and son-in-law Bob Spilman as second-in-command. Spilman systematically humiliated John, making him stand while Spilman took his chair and put his feet on John's desk. In December 1982, JBIII resigned: "I might end up a failure, but I'm not going to my grave being known as J.D. Bassett's grandson, or Doug Bassett's son, or Bob Spilman's brother-in-law." At the Spilman Christmas dinner, only the elderly family maid Gracie Wade dared speak truth, muttering "It ain't right." That moment forged the fighting spirit needed for battles ahead.

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   Reinvention in Galax: Building Something His Own

   John Bassett approached turning around struggling Vaughan-Bassett with the same persistence he used training hunting dogs. Arriving in 1983, he faced $28 million in annual sales, $200,000 in losses, antiquated machinery, and unpaid bills. Unlike cautious Galax furniture families who "lived out of the business" but "didn't drive the damn thing to the best it could be," John took risks. He invested $317,000 personally, negotiated supplier contracts, bought lumber in bulk, and eventually saddled the company with $18 million in debt. To demonstrate commitment, he moved his desk to the machine room's center, watching workers examine every component on the conveyor line. JBIII recruited Duke Taylor, a difficult but brilliant furniture maker "fanatical about accuracy" who "could make furniture out of Popsicle sticks if he had to and still make money." He also brought in Linda McMillian, a product engineer with photographic memory. When ready to accelerate growth, John purchased bankrupt Williams Furniture Company in Sumter, South Carolina for $4 million. The factory specialized in "glit" furniture-paper designs glued onto particleboard-and became profitable within 60 days. By 1998, the Sumter plant was valued at $33 million, and company sales had quadrupled to $79 million. But solid wood furniture from China was arriving, priced competitively with their cheapest products.

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   The Chinese Tsunami: When Globalization Came Home

   In 2001, John Bassett discovered Chinese Louis Philippe bedroom suites wholesaling for $400-half Vaughan-Bassett's price. Chinese furniture imports had surged 121% between 2000-2002. Engineers found the Chinese suites used superior construction and better glue than EPA-compliant American versions. John launched "Thunder and Lightning," offering a cherry-red Harley-Davidson as grand prize. He created Vaughan Bassett Express (VBX)-an unprecedented seven-day factory-to-store delivery model exploiting China's six-week shipping disadvantage. The program required doubling inventory to $30 million and spending $10 million on warehouses. In September 2002, John sent his son Wyatt to Dalian to locate their competitor. They found Dalian Huafeng-a primitive, unheated cinder-block building with 800 workers. More alarming was the massive construction site where owner He YunFeng was building an "American Furniture Industrial Park" to ship 5,000 containers monthly. YunFeng revealed his plan: dominate global furniture by selling suites at $100-"tuition price" to capture market share. He suggested John close his factories and outsource to China. The lifelong Republican immediately called his lawyer, ready to do something unprecedented: turn to the government for help.

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   The Antidumping War: Taking on an Industry and a Superpower

   Trade lawyer Joe Dorn explained that under the Tariff Act of 1930, they could petition the Commerce Department to investigate Chinese factories for "dumping"-selling exports at artificially low prices to drive domestic producers out of business. JBIII faced fierce opposition as retail giants formed the Furniture Retailers of America, threatening to boycott manufacturers who joined Bassett's coalition. Fifty-three law firms lined up against them. By mid-2003, John had convinced fifteen factory heads to join his American Furniture Manufacturers Committee for Legal Trade. But retailer pressure caused quick defections-Hooker Furniture withdrew after its five largest customers "expressed displeasure." In August 2003, with wooden bedroom imports up 54% and over forty North Carolina factories shuttered, JBIII gathered 450 industry colleagues in Greensboro to raise $1.5 million for their legal battle. When one supplier worried about alienating Chinese customers, John pointed to the American flag: "Because you're an American, that's why." The ITC hearing shattered industry camaraderie as trade lawyers representing Chinese manufacturers accused petitioners of fraud. Despite these attacks, the preliminary ruling unanimously favored the coalition. The petition generated fifty to sixty million dollars in legal fees, but coalition companies received $292 million in duties, and Chinese wooden bedroom furniture imports declined over 70%-from $1.85 billion in 2006 to $538 million by 2013.

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   The Price of Victory: Jobs Saved, Lives Changed

   Between 2001 and 2012, America lost 63,300 factories and five million manufacturing jobs while China gained 14.1 million. In Martinsville and Bassett, jobs plummeted from 42,560 to 24,733. One in three families received food stamps; three of four students qualified for free lunches. Former workers like Samuel Watkins went from earning $13.90 hourly to mowing lawns for $8.50 with no health coverage. Desperation ran so deep that thieves stole brass from J.D. Bassett's mausoleum and copper downspouts from mansions. Vaughan-Bassett invested $23 million in new equipment and contributed 10% to employee profit-sharing. In 2006, John Bassett created the Vaughan-Bassett Free Clinic for $350,000 annually, providing free medical care and saving approximately seven hundred jobs in Galax. A decade after challenging Chinese imports, Vaughan-Bassett made $25 million in profits in 2012, with shareholder equity of $114.5 million. At 75, Bassett continued personally drumming up business nationwide. "Our critics have never had to stand in front of five hundred people and tell 'em they're not gonna have a job," he said. "And watch women cry because they don't know how they're gonna feed their children." In a global economy treating workers as expendable, one stubborn furniture maker proved that fighting for American jobs wasn't protectionism-it was patriotism.

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