Manufacturing 2024: DOUG BASSETT

Since 2012, Bassett has served as president of Vaughan-Bassett, the fourth generation of his family to lead the company. Vaughan-Bassett has been crafting furniture for 105 years now, since 1919. Its brands include Vaughan-Bassett Furniture, Artisan & Post and Laurel Mercantile Co. Home by Ben & Erin Napier.

The company, which employs about 500 craftsmen, recently returned dining furniture to its product lines after a three-year suspension. It continues with other case goods, as well. Vaughan-Bassett also bills itself as the nation’s largest manufacturer of wood bedroom furniture.

In April, Vaughan-Bassett opened its new Furniture First showroom and offices in High Point, North Carolina, relocating its anchor showroom from the 10th floor of the International Home Furnishings Center, where it had spent roughly the past 25 years. The showroom is located on the penthouse floor of the new four-story, 40,000-square-foot building. Its new footprint occupies approximately 17,000 square feet in Furniture First. The company’s factory facilities remain in Galax, with a distribution center in Elkin, North Carolina.

Bassett serves on the executive committee of the High Point Market Authority’s board of directors.