L to R: Brandunn Rush, Mike Cox, Derrick Preslar, Diana Guzman, Diana Rodriguez, Adriana Garcia, Keith Jackson, CEO, JD Bass, Anthony Teague, and Keith Smith
Jackson Furniture Industries
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he pandemic in 2020 had an unanticipated affect on many industries. While some segments of the economy struggled during the shutdown, others saw a rapid increase in business. People were working from and spending more time at home and they began making repairs and renovations or purchasing second homes and updating their décor. Several industries recorded record sales last year, including HVAC, roofing, home renovations and flooring companies. Another industry that saw a huge increase was furniture companies, who were hard pressed to keep up with the demand. Jackson Furniture Industries saw a six-fold increase in orders over the past year, despite the cancellation of both Spring and Fall furniture markets across the country. When they started looking for another location for a factory, they took several factors into consideration – proximity to a skilled workforce, transportation accessibility for shipping, and if it were located near High Point and Furniture Market, it would be a huge plus. As a
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US manufacturer, they have eight factories located in four southern states: Tennessee, Mississippi, Virginia and now, North Carolina. Wells Hosiery moved from South Fayetteville Street to the J&S building on the corner of Spero and N Fayetteville Street in mid-2020, and that opened up the ideal location for Jackson Furniture to set up shop in Asheboro. They moved in September 2020, relocating machines from their other facilities to get up and running quickly because new machines can take months to manufacture, and they wanted to get production underway as quickly as possible. Born in 1903, W. Ray Jackson left very humble beginnings in Cleveland, TN at the age of 16. He worked for several years in an auto assembly plant in Ohio, before returning to TN to learn the art of chair upholstery. In 1933, he founded Jackson Furniture Company at the height of the Great Depression with $30, which was all he had left after the banks closed. The company grew and expanded over the next several decades, providing jobs to more and more people across several states.
