Out in the field: A recap of Home News Now’s 2024 travels

One of the best parts of our jobs here at Home News Now is traveling when time allows between deadlines of all sorts, including the need to jump on breaking news as it happens.

The result is often worth the time invested no matter how we get there. While minimal compared with the travel schedules of many others in the industry, it helps us connect with various sources and learn more about their businesses, which of course helps us put things in perspective when it comes time to write about their companies. 

This year was no different in that we traveled to as many plants and companies as we could. Some were in driving distance, while others required an air ticket and night or two stay in the places we visited.

Below is a recap of some of the visits we made, along with some photos and links to the stories and slideshows we published following our visits. 

P.S. Trips to markets including High Point, Las Vegas and Interwoven are not included in this roundup. Nor are our visits to the FMG Symposium in January just before the winter Las Vegas Market and the Furniture Manufacturing Expo in Hickory, North Carolina, earlier this summer.

January

Gat Creek, Berkeley Springs, West Virginia

This was the first major trip of the year, courtesy of the solid wood case goods manufacturer. The trip allowed us to see the company’s expanded plant in Berkeley Springs, where the company is based. Completed in January of this year, this expansion brought the plant to 140,000 square feet, up from 100,000 square feet previously. The tour gave us a firsthand view of how the company manufactures its line, ranging from the use of CNC equipment to the hand sanding and finishing processes that bring the raw wood to life. 

Martin Guitar factory, Nazareth, Pennsylvania

As part of this visit, company CEO and founder Gat Caperton took me and David Petersen, company director of new business development, to the Martin Guitar factory a few hours or so north in Nazareth. This was a huge highlight for me, a furniture nerd who also happens to be a guitar nerd who owns several of these amazing instruments. During the trip, I reminded my traveling companions that the Nazareth headquarters was the inspiration for the famed first line of The Weight, written by Robbie Robertson of The Band. It was not inspired by the Middle Eastern biblical home of Jesus, but rather a label inside the writer’s Martin Guitar which noted it was made in Nazareth (Pennsylvania) USA. 

As a leader in wood furniture manufacturing, the tour was obviously of interest to Gat Caperton, who also knows the supplier of abalone inlay – Pearlworks – seen in everything from the guitar headstocks to the fretboards and top and/or back trim of the venerable D-41, D-42 and D-45  dreadnoughts. In fact, Pearlworks executive Bill Seymour helped us get a foot in the door of the plant. Thank you Bill! Come to find out on a trip later in the year, another wood furniture expert, Edward Audi, president of Stickley, also has been to the plant several times. More on the trip to Stickley toward the end of this column. But first, check out some more photos from the Martin plant tour.  

March  

Worthen Custom Iron & Brass Furniture, Richmond, Virginia

There were two trips this month, the first of which was to the company formerly known as Brass Beds of Virginia, which was founded in 1975 and renamed Worthen Custom Iron & Brass Furniture in February 2023. In March of this year, we visited the company’s plant in Richmond, where we caught a glimpse of the company’s manufacturing process, much of which is done by hand with the help of various equipment and machinery capable of bending and working with metal to shape various components into a stylish line of furniture that not only includes beds, but also various side pieces that can be used as nightstands as well as end and cocktail tables and other pieces for the living room. The tour was courtesy of industry veteran Doug Rozenboom, company president, and Rob Sterling, director of marketing.

Braxton Culler, Sophia, North Carolina

Just a day or so later, we visited the Braxton Culler upholstery plant in Sophia, a little closer to home for Tom Russell, editor-in-chief. The plant tour was with Donnie Lesley, vice president of product development, who showed us everything from the latest fabric and finish samples for the line to the manufacturing and finishing process. Home News Now was grateful for this tour, which it had wanted to make since Classic Home purchased the company in early 2021, creating a domestic manufacturing arm for the import case goods and upholstery business. Thanks to Steinreich Communications and industry writer and communications veteran Kim Wray for making this visit happen!

April

EJ Victor, Morganton, North Carolina

In late April, following the spring High Point Market, HNN Publisher Rick Harrison and I had the good fortune to visit EJ Victor in Morganton. Having previously been to its operations on two occasions, I was glad to see how the company had progressed even further under the leadership of CEO Richard Oliver. During our visit, he explained how the company had been through a challenging, but successful implementation of its ERP system, which he explained in two interviews, including this video clip. The rest of the tour gave us a firsthand look at the company’s upholstery and case goods operations, which produce nearly all of the company’s line, with the exception of some imported components and a few imported items on the wood side. Of course, the company is still reeling from the devastation from Hurricane Helene and is now embroiled in a lawsuit to settle a claim to garner its full insurance benefits. Meanwhile, it’s furloughed about 121 workers, whose futures with the company depend on how this claim is ultimately settled. We wish the company the best during this challenging time. 

May

Best Home Furnishings, Ferdinand, Indiana

On this trip, Rick Harrison and I got to visit Best Home Furnishings’ production facilities including its dimension plant in Jasper, Indiana, and its upholstery production facilities in Ferdinand. The company had us leave early in the morning of May 9 on its private jet and had us back home later that same day, also courtesy of the same company jet. While brief, the tour gave us a firsthand look at the company’s vertically integrated operations, from the drying and cutting of lumber for its wood frames to the actual production and upholstering of the frames in its main production facilities. We also got to see how the company cuts leather and fabric along with the assembly of mechanisms for its recliners. Thanks to the team at Best for a great and educational visit!

September

Stickley Furniture, Manlius, New York

The summer months were a little bit of a dry spell at least until we got to travel up to Syracuse, New York, to visit Stickley in mid-September. This, visit, which was years in the making, was one of the highlights of the year, courtesy of CEO Aminy Audi and President Edward Audi, two of our favorite people in the business. Their hospitality was unmatched as they had a full two-day schedule planned for me, which included a tour of the company’s 400,000-square-foot plant in nearby Manlius with Tom Graham, manager of quality control, as well as interviews with the design team, the human resources team, the marketing team and the folks who run the retail operation. We also got to visit the company museum, which shares a space with the Fayetteville Library in the site of the company’s original area plant in Fayetteville. In addition, we got to visit the company’s more than 70,000-square-foot flagship retail store at Towne Center at Fayetteville. It gave us a firsthand look at the company’s innovative approach to retail, including a gallery display at the center of the store that serves as a model for other retail accounts. Thank you again to Aminy and Edward Audi for this awesome educational experience!

John-Richard, Whitsett, North Carolina

Also in September, we took a trip a little closer to home outside of High Point to see John-Richard’s new 236,000-square-foot headquarters and distribution center in Whitsett. While the company maintains its 250,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Greenwood, Mississippi, the move of its distribution and headquarters operations just outside of High Point places it not only in the heart of the residential furniture industry, but also in a major transportation hub that allows it better access to its customer base thanks to a vibrant interstate network. Thus, in addition to tapping into industry talent, the relocation means customers will receive product more quickly and potentially at lower costs, a factor that is also related to the proximity of major trucking companies.

December

Platypus Home, Shrewsbury, New Jersey, and Raymour & Flanigan, Ocean Township

Our travels this month took us up north to Tom Russell’s home state of New Jersey, where he visited some retailers including Platypus Home in Shrewsbury and Raymour & Flanigan in Ocean Township. Both located along Route 35 in Monmouth County, these stores are at different ends of the retail spectrum, with the former occupying a smaller footprint that is catered largely to interior designers and their clients, and the larger Raymour & Flanigan store catering more to the mass market. Regardless, each had an impressive array of furniture and furnishings that could whet any consumer’s appetite.

The trip also included a stay at the historic Monmouth County landmark hotel, the Molly Pitcher Inn. First built in 1928, the hotel’s exterior design was inspired by Philadelphia’s Independence Hall. Both the interior and exterior harken to traditional design elements seen in everything from the paintings on the wall to the furniture. Editor-in-Chief Tom Russell took note of this, impressed by its wide array of traditional furnishings seen in some of the images below.

While these visits may be hard to top, we promise to continue our efforts of getting out in the field as much as possible in the year ahead, bringing you not only images, but the stories of those we visit and how they are making a difference in the marketplace. That said, we are grateful for your readership and support and wish you a very happy holiday season and all the best in 2025!