Northern Indiana furniture builders known for
innovation and quality in their product lines
Quality furniture manufacturing has
been an important part of Northern Indiana’s Amish community since the early
1990s.
Until that time, most furniture was
manufactured for personal use, by retired
farmers or factory workers, or included
as part of the job description of carpenters building a home.
But by the early ‘90s some Amish men
became dissatisfied with life in the RV factories. Full-time farming with horses was
no longer a viable alternative for most.
So a few turned their woodworking hobbies into businesses. As money
became more plentiful in the booming
‘90s more people sought custom furniture and cabinets, making woodworking
an attractive occupation.
Soon after, a few builders began
building furniture for the wholesale
market and found that many people
outside the immediate area also craved
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quality handcrafted furniture.
That gave birth to the wholesale
furniture industry in Northern Indiana.
Soon a few other builders followed them
and today more than 80 shops in the area
are involved in wholesale production.
Ironically, the RV industry they
sought to escape provided them with
the necessary background to succeed at
wholesale production by teaching them
how to be streamlined and efficient.
Wholesale production meant the possibility of more money and a steadier income, made it easier to train employees
and opened new opportunities for employment.
It quickly became clear that simply
producing the same kinds of furniture
as the Amish in Ohio and Pennsylvania
wasn’t going to work.
Northern Indiana builders focused on
mission-style furniture, which brought
the desired attention to their products
Heartland Directory of Wholesale Furniture Manufacturers 2013
and created the base for the future of the
industry.
The early efforts to attract interest in
furniture from Northern Indiana created
an innovative spirit that continues today.
Wholesale furniture manufacturers in
the area produce new styles every year.
Producing new styles put Northern
Indiana furniture on the map and has
created a demand that continues to drive
further innovation and higher standards
of quality.
Quality and innovation will always be
the hallmarks of furniture manufacturing
in Northern Indiana.
Through cooperative efforts, Amish
furniture manufacturers in the area have
expanded the scope of sales to include
most of the country. Still, they constantly
look for new stores in new areas to create
a continued demand, which allows more
local production, in turn continuing the
cycle of innnovation and quality.