Factory Man

Factory Man: How One Furniture Maker Battled Offshoring, Stayed Local – and Helped Save an American Town

One man’s battle to save hundreds of jobs by taking on China and demonstrating the greatness of American business

With over $500 million a year in sales, the Bassett Furniture Company was once the world’s biggest wood furniture manufacturer. Run by the same powerful Virginia family for a century, it was also the center of life in Bassett, Virginia — an unincorporated town that existed solely to fuel the business. But beginning in the 1980s, the Bassett company suffered from an influx of cheap Asian furniture as the first wave of imports struck, and ultimately moved nearly all its production to Asia.

Only one man fought back: John Bassett III, a shrewd and determined third-generation factory man who used grit, tenacity, and will to compete against China and ultimately save his family’s company. In Factory Man, Beth Macy brings to life John Bassett’s fascinating business, with wildly colorful stories from an American industry that once ruled the world and might again see better days. As Macy shows how he uses legal maneuvers, factory efficiencies, and sheer will to save hundreds of jobs, she also discovers the hidden history of industry in America.

Vaughan-Bassett Furniture Company today employs more than seven hundred people, with John Bassett at the helm. His story unveils shocking truths about American business, including the hidden fallout of offshoring on communities across the country. By revealing how one businessman took on China — and won — Factory Man raises a flag for the return of made-in-America products.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1. The Tipoff
Chapter 2. The Original Outsourcer
Chapter 3. The Town the Daddy Rabbits Built
Chapter 4. Hilltop Hierarchy
Chapter 5. The Cousin Company
Chapter 6. Company Man
Chapter 7. Lineage and Love
Chapter 8. Navigating the New Landscape
Chapter 9. Sweet Ole Bob (SOB)
Chapter 10. The Mount Airy Ploy
Chapter 11. The Family Elbow
Chapter 12. Schooling the Chinese
Chapter 13. Bird-Doggin’ the Backwaters
Chapter 14. Selling the Masses
Chapter 15. The Storm Before the Tsunami
Chapter 16. Trouble in the ’Ville
Chapter 17. Stretching Out the Snake
Chapter 18. The Dalian Dance Card
Chapter 19. Gathering the Troops
Chapter 20. Mr. Bassett Goes to Washington
Chapter 21. Factory Requiem
Chapter 22. Million-Dollar Backlash
Chapter 23. Copper Wires and Pink Slips
Chapter 24. Shakedown Street
Chapter 25. Mud Turtle
Chapter 26. The Replacements
Chapter 27. “Sheila, Get Me the Governor!”