by 200,000-square-foot operation replaces the company’s former Southern Furniture facility in Conover, North Carolina, that it acquired in 2019
HILDEBRAN, N.C. — Universal Furniture’s move into a 200,000-square-foot plant here owned by company parent Samson Holding marks its latest evolution as a manufacturer of custom upholstery.
With more than 10 years of experience as an upholstery resource dating to 2016, the company’s roots in domestic manufacturing started with its acquisition of Southern Furniture in Conover three years later. The Hildebran plant replaces the Conover facility, providing what the company describes as “a larger, more efficient and technologically advanced home for the continued growth of Universal’s successful upholstery business.”
“We purchased Southern at the end of 2019 and turned it on as Universal at the end of 2020,” said Universal President Sean O’Connor. “It’s been exciting to watch the business evolve into an opportunity to build the next chapter of American upholstery manufacturing right here in North Carolina.”
The company offered a tour of the facility this week, an existing plant in Hildebran that produces bench-made stationary and motion upholstery. It showcased the highly vertical nature of its manufacturing process, from the building of frames to the cutting and application of fabric to those frames.
Indeed, the depth and breadth of its fabric and leather mix offers a custom palette that aims to benefit designers and retailers alike with quick turnaround times of six to eight weeks for custom upholstery compared to about four to six weeks for non-custom product produced in larger runs.
“Our newly designed domestic upholstery factory offers bench-made pieces in over 1,000 fabrics and nearly 100 leathers, with every style also available COM,” O’Connor told Home News Now, noting that customers benefit not only on the upholstery side of the business, but also on the wood furniture side.
“At Universal, our goal is to be a true resource for our partners, offering a complete, whole-home solution that connects case goods and upholstery,” he said. “Our in-stock bestselling upholstery is merchandised and designed alongside our case goods collections to help our retailers and designers present cohesive, inspiring room stories.”
O’Connor also said the facility represents the latest chapter in his family’s long connection to the industry, dating back to when his grandfather Frank O’Connor returned from World War II to work as a buyer for Macy’s, “purchasing furniture from Southern and others that showed at furniture markets in the Hickory area for many years.”
Thus, the focus remains on serving existing and new customers with the quality story they have come to expect from Universal. Comfort, O’Connor noted, is top of mind, adding that every seat is standard in a down-blend seat cushion, “because we sell sofas you sit in, not on.”
He noted that new introductions this spring from Rick Lovegrove, vice president of upholstery, will be available in two sofa sizes, as well as modular sectionals, sleepers, and stationery and swivel chairs, in skirted, non-skirted, slipcovered and leather versions, with bench-seat, two-seat and three-seat options.
“Domestically made outdoor versions off these styles will also be offered, further expanding customization and versatility for designers and retailers,” O’Connor added. “We’ve studied the marketplace, and because we are primarily known as a case goods manufacturer, we needed to find ways to differentiate ourselves and offer designers and retailers reasons to try our products.
“The evolution of the brand and our offering over the last year and a half has been elevated, and it’s exciting to see how far we’ve come from five sofas built in China, all in one fabric, in 2016. The upholstery and motion/recliner categories are the largest segments in the furniture industry, and we have the vision and financial support to be a much larger player in it. You know you can’t spell upholstery without the “U.”
He added that the company’s growing motion upholstery segment also offers both “domestic craftsmanship or imported production, giving our partners the flexibility to choose fabric or leather, opt for build-to-order customization, or choose ready-to-ship speed. Alongside our expanding special-order dining, counter stool and bed programs, the addition of our new factory photo studio and learning center allows us to create stronger imagery, better training and clearer product storytelling to support both retailers and designers.”
He said these and other initiatives show that the company has not been sitting still amid various marketplace challenges. A key goal is to be fully prepared for its customers as business improves, offering a domestic footprint that provides not only many different options and seating configurations, but also speed to market that only a domestic producer such as Universal can offer.
“With these investments, along with new machinery and expanded production capacity, we are scaling with purpose,” he added. “We are building an infrastructure designed to support how our partners run their businesses today. We feel like we can combine design, comfort, customization and speed across the entire home.
“Anyone can sell you a sofa. What matters is the partnership behind it. At Universal, our focus is on building the kind of company that stands behind our retailers and designers, providing the product, tools, education and operational support that help them solve problems and grow their businesses.”
“We look forward to bringing the business to our new Hildebran facility, which represents the next chapter in that shared history,” he said of his family’s long ties to North Carolina upholstery manufacturing. “It’s been exciting to watch the business evolve into an opportunity to build the next chapter of American upholstery manufacturing right here in North Carolina.”
