Senior Vice President & Chief Operations Officer, Bassett Furniture Inds
Search every verified John Bassett interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. John Bassett III, chairman of Vaughan-Bassett Furniture Company, has spoken publicly about his company's efforts to compete with Chinese furniture imports. He stated that after China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, prices plummeted and his company decided to keep manufacturing in the United States. Bassett said the company formed a coalition of 29 companies and spent $55 million on litigation alleging that Chinese manufacturers were violating international trade rules, and that the effort was successful. He described his company as "100% domestic made" and said it is "one of the last of the solid wood furniture makers" in the United States, employing 700 people in Galax, Virginia. Bassett has discussed his management philosophy, which he said includes rules such as maintaining a winning attitude and providing leadership by example. He said the company invested $6.5 million in an automated rough mill, reassigning affected employees without cutting pay and reducing headcount only through attrition. During the 2008 financial crisis, he said the company created a free clinic for employees and their families to retain its workforce. Bassett has also commented on the millennial generation, stating that they "may not work as long hours as before, but they are better fathers and better with their children." He is the subject of the book "Factory Man" by Beth Macy, which he described as "the most famous furniture book that's ever been written."
“We are not against globalization ladies and gentlemen, we just want it to be played fair. There are rules at the WTO, there are rules at the United States government, and they violated a lot of them. So listen to our story.”
“I put together 29 companies and we formed a coalition because we thought the Chinese were cheating. We hired a law firm in Washington D.C. and after years of litigation, it cost us fifty-five million dollars, but we were successful.”
“Rule number one in business is attitude. If you don't believe you can be successful, then you're going to lose. We Americans are the greatest country in the world, and we have to start thinking like winners.”
“We invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in new equipment to show our people we were not going out of business. Management would not turn tail and run, despite criticism from business schools saying factories like ours were obsolete.”
“We negotiated with trucking companies to pay them 10 to 20 percent more and get deliveries in seven days instead of 60, improving inventory turnover and cash flow. This was something our competitors overseas could not do.”
“During the 2008 financial crisis, housing starts dropped 75 percent, which devastated the bedroom furniture market. Despite losing money, we created a free clinic for employees and their families, showing we cared and helping retain our workforce.”
“We invested six and a half million dollars in an automated rough mill that eliminated 40 jobs, but we reassigned those employees to other areas without cutting their pay, and reduced headcount only through attrition.”
“We make solid oak, cherry, and maple furniture mostly for the middle and upper-middle class markets. We do not make the lowest price furniture, but everything is made in Galax, Virginia.”
“We do not criticize other companies in our industry because we all have tough decisions to make. I left Bassett in 1983, and the company is now run by my nephew, so I do not comment on their financial status.”
“I believe the millennial generation workers are different; they may not work as long hours as before, but they are better fathers and better with their children. Leadership means setting an example and challenging employees to improve.”
“When 2001 the Chinese joined the World Trade Organisation, prices plummeted. They just absolutely plummeted and we had to decide what we were going to do. People were panicking; the Stampede was on Wall Street wanting you to close all your factories. That was the thing to do, and that was advice you would hear from inv...”
“We decided that the only way we could exist and survive is with the whole company working together. We had to talk to the people, so we accidentally formed what I call the final group rules and we stumbled into it. We went to the people and said here's a problem, now if we're going to stay in this community we have to...”
“Attitude, ladies and gentlemen, is a mindset. Winning is a mindset. Unfortunately, losing is a mindset. In my opinion, in this country we've lost some of this. We used to want to compete; now we want to turn tail and run.”
“We were shocked; our people had become quitters. They were watching television, reading the paper, the internet or whatever, and they had given up. That leads to rule number two: how do you turn around an attitude? Ladies and gentlemen, you turn it around with leadership. That's how you do it.”
“I'm not talking about golden parachutes and stock options. It's what I learned in the military: don't ask anybody to do anything you're not willing to do yourself. When they came to work in the morning, I was in the parking lot; when they left, I was right there with them.”
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