To: John Chen who wrote (150449 ) 12/3/2002 6:32:37 AM From: craig crawford Read Replies (1) | Respond to >> HJM,re:"China solidifies dominanace in furniture making". Hey, Craig, if you are not rounded up by Tom of HSB, MARK this one down that we OWE China for providing comfort in our home in dirt cheap price (at least to the retailer). <<By the time it reaches the showroom of a Macy's or a Levitz , the furniture commands prices ranging from $300 for an end table to as much as $4,000 for a dining room set amuseum.org Born in Bavaria in 1845, Isidor Straus came to the United States at the age of 9, residing first in Georgia and then in New York City. Together with his brother Nathan, Isidor started to sell glassware and china in R. H. Macy's in 1873. By 1896, the enterprise was so successful that the Strauses purchased the entire store, helping to build what is now the largest store chain in the world. jsenterprises.com I'm going to be bouncing around a bit in telling her story, but this incident fits while I'm talking about the store. Pearl bad a terrific gift of gab and a real sassy, twangy voice. She was clerking. Two men came into the store wishing to purchase two folding chairs. Now, in a Jewish store, prices are not marked on the item. They asked "How much are the chairs?" She said, "$1.50 a piece." The men paid for the chairs and left, she laughed. She knew there was a circus in town and these men were visitors. If they had wanted more chairs, she would have charged them the correct price of 75~ each, but since they only wanted two chairs and she also knew they wouldn't store hop, she hit them for double the price. Then she laughed and held the money up high in the air and danced a happy jig, "See, I made an extra $1.50!... Then Kuo heard that one of his biggest clients, Universal Furniture , based in High Point, N.C., was up for sale. Last year Kuo paid an undisclosed sum, believed by industry analysts to be at least $25 million, to acquire Universal's brand name and its sales and marketing network. He did not want its factories in the United States and Asia, which were sold or closed.
