Company has created an import line that is offered in custom colors and ships quickly from its domestic warehouse
MOUNT AIRY, N.C. — Since its formation about 11 years ago, My Home Furnishings has established a niche for itself in the youth furniture segment.
Since then, it’s established a line of youth bedroom and bunk beds from the ground up, invested in a domestic warehouse program and developed a custom colors program that ships product in 45 days from the time of order.

But even as it’s filled demand for a business that many have abandoned, it’s not been an easy road. Like others, it survived a pandemic and a related surge in demand that had many scrambling to secure product during overseas shutdowns and massive spikes in transportation costs. And since then, it’s been challenged by one of the most dramatic retail slowdowns since the financial crisis.
“I think our strength is that we have outlasted a lot of people,” said Gene Clark, a partner in the business, adding that it faced similar challenges as others during and after the pandemic. “We’ve been able to withstand a lot of it because we’re smaller and we’re extremely lean. And the product that we’ve offered for the most part, is not promotional. It’s been midpriced and we focus on quality and delivery.”
It also has developed on-trend styles in the category, which makes the mix attractive to end users, while also extending the life of the groups beyond the tween and teen years for use in second or guest bedrooms.
Its current mix includes about a half-dozen bedrooms available in at least one alternative finish, for a total of 12 sets. These offer twin, full and queen beds with full and queens retailing from $699 to $799. In addition, four of the six groups offer bunk bed options, including twin-over-twin and full-over-full configurations.

The company also has grown into other product segments, including loft beds and daybeds, to meet the needs of retailers seeking alternatives within the category.
“We started doing those last market and we created a catalog just for the bunk beds, lofts and daybeds,” Clark said, noting that the loft beds and daybeds, each available in three finishes, are styled after its popular Whitehaven collection.
The limited offering of styles and finishes allowed the company to get into the category without too many SKUs, thus making it simple for the retailer to understand.
“We are working on getting it started — we didn’t want to go too fast,” he said of these new product categories. “And we got some good feedback on it from last market.”
Stocked in its Mount Airy warehouse, its Custom Coloures program also offers dealers plenty of options, along with quick-ship capability that allows the custom product to ship within 45 days of the order. This selection aims to not only appeal to retailers, but also designers looking for options and bursts of color in the youth segment.
“We would like to pick up some business from the design trade. I think that is everybody’s target,” Clark notes.
With a larger showroom at the October market, in space T-102 in The Atrium at 430 S. Main St., dealers and designers alike will be able to see a broader mix of the company’s collection as well as a broader array of its finish capabilities.
Its domestic warehouse, which represents about 75% of its business, is largely tailored to those customers seeking to place smaller orders. However, it also ships container direct, suiting the needs of larger customers alike.
It is that flexibility within the youth segment that also is a major part of its success and an attribute the company believes will position it competitively in the marketplace for years to come.
“I think we’ve got a ‘do what it takes’ mentality,” Clark said. “Not by any means has it been easy, and it’s still not easy, because to grow, it takes a lot of capital. We have been able to manage that to some extent and we would like to be doing more but we don’t want to get ahead of our speed.”