High Point, NC -- When it comes to showing furniture, the Triad has the market cornered.
High Point's twice a year furniture trade shows draw 80,000 designers, manufacturers, and buyers from 106 countries.
But with furniture making jobs spreading across the globe to countries with cheaper work forces, is there any part of the manufacturing market left for the Triad?
From start-ups to a company that never left, when everybody else said the answer is overseas.
These folks say "Made-in-America" is back and growing stronger.
We didn't have to go to China to get video of workers building new pieces of furniture.
That work is happening down the street from the High Point Furniture Market at Miles Talbott.
"These guys aren't just workers they're craftsman," said George Jordan, President of Miles Talbott. "The pieces they build on a day to day basis are beautiful pieces of art that are specifically made for each consumer one at a time."
In fact, the Miles Talbott lines of furniture have always been Made in the USA.
"The fact that we deliver 90% of our product within 30 days makes it an impossibility to do it offshore," added Jordan.
High end upholstered pieces seem to be America's specialty, but Jordan says rising oil prices and overseas labor costs are opening more doors.
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I think all price points can benefit from that shrinking advantage that China has," said Jordan.
Joe Manus is finding that to be true.
He started Shiner International, a made in America furniture company, a year ago.
This is only his third market.
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Happy to be here, and if the Market continues like it has in the past three hours we're going to have a staggering show," stated Manus.
It's a return of American pride that for the folks at Miles Talbot never left.
"I'm very proud," shared James Long, a furniture framer at Miles Talbott. "Every piece we sit out on that floor we want to be a top quality piece."
So -- what does this mean for jobs?
Jobs are coming back but not as many as we lost.
The new "Made in America" furniture is a leaner, more specialized industry, but one expert says it has a long term future.
According to the American Home Furnishings Alliance, 60% of all upholstery sold in the U.S. is made in the U.S., and about 35% of all of the wood furniture sold in the U.S. is made in America.
They add Kincaid Furniture has cut back on its foreign-made products in favor of returning manufacturing to its facilities in Hudson, North Carolina.
WFMY News 2