Furniture makers mull moving back home
By Emily Kaiser - Analysis
HIGH POINT, North Carolina (Reuters) - Furniture maker Carol Gregg got some puzzled looks when she went looking for a U.S. factory to make her Chinese antique reproductions.
"They said, 'Honey, don't you know everyone is going to China?'" Gregg said. "It took a while to get people on board."
She used to ship American wood to a factory in China, which would make the furniture and then ship it back to the United States. Three years ago, even before oil hit $140 per barrel, she decided that was "really silly" and decided to move manufacturing back to the United States.
Now, a network of small U.S. factories produces 10 or 20 units at a time for her company, red egg resources, based in High Point, North Carolina. And other furniture makers are coming to her for advice on how to leave China.
Since 2000, scores of U.S. factories have shut down as furniture companies shifted manufacturing to China in search of lower costs. But as rising inflation drives up factory wages in China and high oil prices make shipping costlier, some companies are considering moving back home.
Like Gregg, many furniture makers are finding it hard to return, primarily because of steep factory start-up costs and lack of skilled labor. The credit crisis that began with failing mortgages but has now led to tighter terms on virtually all loans also makes it tougher to finance a new plant...
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