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HIGH POINT — Amish furniture manufacturers, many of which offer a domestic, solid wood story that is unique in the marketplace, said they haven’t seen much, if any, impact at all due to China tariffs.
This, they said, is partly due to the custom nature of their lines, which while important to many consumers is far different than the mass production model offered in China or other Asian countries such as Vietnam.
The mix of solid wood bedroom, dining and occasional also tends to be at a much higher price point than most lower-middle-priced China-made goods. Thus, retailers looking for similar price points will first look in other Asian countries such as Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia for those goods vs. looking to Amish resources.
Borkolder, for example, has seen a slight increase in sales during the first half. But Director of Business Development Bill Cubberley attributes that to the custom nature of the company’s manufacturing model.
“The major reason for our increase is customization,” he said, noting that this extends beyond finish to include custom sizes and wood species.
He said that the company does best when retailers are promoting both the product and custom offerings.
“When retailers promote the product, we sell the product,” he noted. “But if you get in between all the sale (promotions), it seems to dry up. There certainly isn’t anything out there that is star studded. It is work for everybody.”
Daniel’s Amish Collection said it, too, has seen a modest uptick in year-to-date business. However, the company does not attribute this to a shift in demand due to tariffs.
“I don’t think that we have had any impact from that,” said George Arbeiter, national sales manager for Daniel’s Amish, noting that importers have done a good job offsetting the tariffs by bulking up on stock in domestic warehouses and shifting sourcing to other countries.
He said that the company has remained competitive by building its hardwood components in-house, which helps it manage quality and control costs.
He said the company also has remained competitive by investing in new woodworking and finishing equipment, which helps improve quality and efficiency.
“Technology and new equipment is very important,” he said. “We are always looking to become more efficient.”
Simply Amish said it, too, has not seen any significant impact from China tariffs.
“I wasn’t really surprised because we are at such a different price point,” said Kevin Kauffman, company owner and co-founder. “A lot of guys sourcing in China avoided that by going to a different country and not shifting to domestic. I am sure that made a difference at the lower price points.”
Another reason that Simply Amish and other Amish producers have not seen a big impact is because most wood bedroom already had shifted to Vietnam from China in the past decade or more due to antidumping duties on wooden bedroom.
The largest categories that remain in China are wood dining and wood furniture categories such as home entertainment, occasional tables and accent furniture. While the Amish produce some of these categories, wood bedroom remains one of the largest parts of their lines.
To remain competitive in the marketplace, Simply Amish and others are also developing new lines that are more price-conscious.
For example, Borkholder is launching a new smaller scale solid wood dining line at market that will be priced around 30% below its typical pricing in the category.
Simply Amish also has plans to roll out more entry-priced bedroom and dining sets.
“We are trying to cut some corners that won’t hurt the quality but will save us some money,” Kauffman said. “It will still be a higher quality piece but will involve less labor.”
He added that the company also is working to produce larger batch orders, which while not comparable to large cuttings seen in Asia will “allow us to cut back on labor and be more efficient.”
This, Kauffman said, will be timely, as the state of Illinois where the company is based is looking to boost its minimum wage to $15 an hour by early 2025, up from $8.25 an hour currently.
Even though many of its employees earn wages in that upper range, such an increase statewide could ultimately put pressure on Simply Amish and others to boost their wages in the coming years.
“Automation is on our minds,” Kauffman said. “We want to do what we can to minimize the impact on our customers.”
