Is ANYTHING made in the Good Ol' U.S. of A. anymore???

[MikeyZO]

So the fiancee and I went to do some furniture shopping this weekend. And let me say there is a lot of nice quality furniture out there. We even visited Thomasville who has built their reputation on building and selling quality American made furniture, and the price shows it, with bedroom and dining room sets close to $10,000 each.

And then my friend and I went to look at a few other stores today. And thats when I started to look really close and hard at some of the higher end stuff in these stores. And there is was, staring me in the face... MADE IN CHINA. So we went to another name brand store... and again, MADE IN CHINA. Then to another store where I saw a dining room set that I KNEW was made by the Acme Furniture Corp based in NJ. This HAD to be American right? After talking to the sales guy, turns out that even that is made in China, and he even showed me that the exact same dining room set was available from 2 other manufacturers... proving that Acme didn't make it, they simply imported it from a Chinese manufacturer and that manufacturer sells it to different American companies.

I even stopped in Raymor and Flannigan and said "Show me anything American made" and the guy actually lauged at us, telling us that over 95% of furniture nowadays, even from the long time well known companies, are now made in China. And he went on to say that some are even made in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam. Oh, and Canada. Whoopie!

And then, later on, I found out that even the high end American made Thomasville is actually made in China! They apparently get away with saying it's made in America because the pieces are assembled here. But all the wood and woodwork and whatever else is done in China, with "Asian Hardwood". Nothing is pure Mahogany or Birtch or any other normal wood anymore. Even if they tell you it is.

So, in my ventures, the only American company that anyone knows of that STILL makes their furniture in America is Stanley. They all told me that there are a few others but they couldn't think of any off the tops of their heads. Only Stanley. They would have to research and get back to me (and this was from 3 different salsemen at 3 different stores).

So, is there anything that is 100% Good Ol' U.S. of A. made anymore???

And people wonder whats wrong with this country.

 

[jejton]

Yes - financial scandals.

 

[NYPDFrogman]

try restoration hardware

http://www.restorationhardware.com/...avAction=jump&navCount=0&categoryId=cat160024

 

[TimberTDI]

I've bought three girls' bedroom sets made by Stanley. They don't come close to be cheap. Neither in price or quality.

 

[woodman]

dankenstudio.com is all custom ,and made in usa.

 

[tosiek]

Does it really matter? And can you blame them?

The overheads for factory costs, machinery leasing/purchasing ontop of crazy bulk wood prices and the cost of union workers is just crazy once you even start to think production and assembly in the US. Ive seen excellent made furniture from other places that will last you just as long for half the price just due to lowered bills and machinery costs. Also your not paying for crazy import fee's on wood. When you get into the higher end american furniture your paying for extra fee's associated with doing buisness in the US and thats not what the majority of people want to pay for, but will then turn around and say "hey what happened to the good old US products, im dissapointed in you Mr. US Product Maker!"

That ontop of the fact that people don't want to pay for what they get and are always looking for top quality products at home depot prices. Its the super bargain shoppers that ruined anything quality made that held any value along with the disposable mentality held by people nowadays that purchase things just to have them replaced a month or two down the line. Furniture, cars, cell phones, ect get thrown out and changed like dirty underwear.

So, producers need to cater to that 80% of consumers and produce products that are cheap both in material and quality, that last you not a 10yrs to a lifetime timeline but instead an avg run time of 1-4 years. Buisness competition is now based on low prices and not product quality which IMO destroys the industry. Im not even going to get into how Service and parts play into the way things are designed and how it relates companies buisness mentality. I cry sometimes when i think about it and have horrible nightmares. Its quite sad and leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Or the Family run buisnesses that are down the drain to corporate overpaid/underworked buisnesses that have been swollowing them up whole. And the small buisnesses with a great idea and the mentality that they will sell that great product to a corporation for big bucks, not caring that they are ruining the product.

Look at NASA and whats going on with private enterprise space travel. I can give examples all day.

Anyway, Sorry for the rant. As far as material goes for the furniture "asian hardwood" is their mahogany/oak/birch/ect that grows in the area. It varies in quality but due to growth conditions and not that its not that true wood type. Mahogany is a general type of wood type and mahagony varies from place to place. American mahagony is dry and hard to work with, african tends to show more grain work and is usually lighter, sappele likes to ribbon alot, and honduras which is the nicest of them all and what most furniture was made of back in the day but you can't find anywhere anymore. The same goes with birch and oak but oak is more or less the same most places you go.

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

The worlds economy is :sad2:

 

[tosiek]

yup chief. One more thing to think about......Stocks are no longer you investing shares in a company you believe in to help it grow and in turn your wallet grows with the company but instead a gambling "quick money" investment that you throw money into because the returns are high on a climbing stock value.

:frown:

 

[Killerdrgn]

There's also an upside to this that suffered because of certain previous policies. Knowledge is made in the US, the US is still leaders in putting out patents and R&D. However the other countries in the world are quickly catching up because they are making those investments in education and infrastructure.

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

:scratchch Funny........................

 

[ming]

Why pay an american a regular wage, then you can pay someone from a 3rd world country a couple dollars an hour for the same work? If you were a business owner, that would be your choice. Do you prefer to hire american labor, or have more profits?
The biggest issue with a lot of american labor is the unions IMO. They keep striking for higher wages and comparing to non unionized labor, they are less efficient. There are some cases unions are better, particularly where the workers are oppressed, which is the reason why unions were created, but now the unions have the upper hand and victimizing the company until the company goes bankrupt (i.e. the big 3 auto manufacturers) or until they outsource to another country.

I would say the MTA is probably another example of corrupt unions. They've striked a lot of times, the service doesn't get any better, the fare is going up, and any other country with superior transit system charges less. Just that they won't ever go bankrupt because they can just raise the fares and people will still have to take it. Not cause they like it, but because there is no other option.

 

[Killerdrgn]

Oh yeah Weapons manufacturing is HOT in the US and that made all in the USA. Look to Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Northrup Grumman, Sikorsky, McDonnel Douglas, Colt, Barrett, ArmaLite, Smith & Wesson, Remington, Winchester, Etc.

The US is very good at exporting death.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arms_industry

The United States is the overall top supplier of weapons. The United States is also the top supplier of weapons to the developing world, accounting for around 36% of worldwide weapons sales, followed by Russia, Britain, Germany and China.

 

[jejton]

Hey wiat a minute. America also develops the lions' share of medical technology, pharmaceuticals and other advances in the health fields. So we are also very good at exporting life!

 

[Killerdrgn]

Hey wiat a minute. America also develops the lions' share of medical technology, pharmaceuticals and other advances in the health fields. So we are also very good at exporting life!

That was my first post here, the R&D part. For actual manufacturing it's weapons.
And like I said other countries are starting to catch up. Namely places like South Korea, Singapore, and Japan. They didn't put up federal funding barriers to research.

 

[inkblue]

 

[JHOV2324]

we also do pretty darn good with XXX movies.....

 

[Killerdrgn]

we also do pretty darn good with XXX movies.....

Oh and food that's bad for you! KFC is really popular around the world. McDonalds, not so much anymore.
But those aren't really manufacturing/"making something". I mean sure you make one go into the other repeatedly but that really doesn't count.

But even in entertainment there's still foreign components sometimes. Foreign "actors"

 

[inkblue]

aSians are good with poRn :bunnies: rusSians too...!

 

[tosiek]

Hey wiat a minute. America also develops the lions' share of medical technology, pharmaceuticals and other advances in the health fields. So we are also very good at exporting life!

You do understand that ameican pharmaceutical companies are heavily influenced by income drugs. There are numerous reports and evidence that companies won't use formulas or chemicals that can't be patented to make new drugs even though it would be a breakthrough medically if that drug was on the market. Drugs that bring in 0 or reduced $$ don't make it out of the lab. I won't even touch the FDA and their approval process and influences...... or the health insurance companies....

We do have better breakthroughs with medical processes, but thats because the doctors are payed very well for its advancement, and the people then pay very well to have those surgeries.

 

[NYPDFrogman]

I would say the MTA is probably another example of corrupt unions. They've striked a lot of times, the service doesn't get any better, the fare is going up, and any other country with superior transit system charges less. Just that they won't ever go bankrupt because they can just raise the fares and people will still have to take it. Not cause they like it, but because there is no other option.

you are absolutely right about the MTA having a corrupt union I can speak from experience, my wife was a train conductor. They do nothing for the employees!
your terrible service isnt the union it's the MTA. they treat their employees like second class citizens, their meal breaks and be taken away, no time to relieve themselves, not allowed to be sick I can go on and on.
they are like the companies seeking bail out money, they treat their executives and top supervisors like gold pay raise and bonuses while they abuse the rank file that run the system, and take your money and want more.

what happens to all that toll money collected at bridge that are supposed to subsidize public transportation.


if the poor service and high fares are pissing people off maybe the public should strike against the MTA and not use the service
but dont blame the employees it a poorly managed service



Oops wasnt this thread about buying furniture??