Whitewood Inds. Acquires High Point Showroom Building

October 31, 2016  by Larry Thomas in Acquisition, Casegoods, High Point, Industry, Market, Product, Upholstery   

The landmark building was built in 1952 by US Furniture Inds. founder and owner, Stanley Taylor.

Beyond exhibiting its own divisions during the High Point Market, which include John Thomas Furniture, Whitewood Ready-To-Finish, International Concepts, and Custom Contract Furnishings, the 30,096-square-foot building acts as showroom exhibition space for Arthur Brown of Deer Park, N.Y. and Style Setters of High Point, N.C.

According to Jorge Mata, Whitewood Industries CEO, from the onset, moving into this particular location was not a random move, but a strategic one.

“US Furniture Industries was a well-known and respected entity in the home furnishings industry and the go-to resource for casual dining for many years. When we first began showing in the space, we’d really begun efforts to establish ourselves in the casual dining category,” Mata said.

Since then, the company has evolved greatly, due in part to its popular Select custom finish program. Today, in addition to its core casual dining program, the company distributes bedroom, occasional, home accents and youth furnishings.

“I remember when we first started showing in the 215 space. Customers would walk in and say ‘Is this US Furniture Industries?’. They were in a space that they knew and sought out casual dining, and here we were -- different company, same category. It was a beautiful thing and it really jump started our success in the category,” said Mata.

According to Mata, though the showroom could be expanded by demolishing the current structure, the company has no intentions of doing so.

“We attribute a lot of our success to the original 1952 architecture, history, and location of the building and we have every intention of maintaining that integrity,” he said.

The purchase marked the third acquisition for the company in the past 12 months. Prior to this acquisition, the company expanded its operations by acquiring two facilities, a 78,000-square-foot facility in August 2016, and a 39,000-square-foot facility in October 2015. Both are located within a five-mile radius of the company’s Thomasville, N.C., headquarters.