Furniture maker being purchased by American Century Home Fabrics
April 28th, 2007 Category FurnitureAmerican Century Home Fabrics, which operates from the former Swink Plant on South Main Street near China Grove, is buying high-end furniture maker Jeffco and will create a new corporate entity called The Chelsea Frank Group.
According to a Furniture Today report, the new group plans a major business thrust into the interior design and luxury retail markets.
Jason Jiang, CEO of the group that is run by him and his wife, Cathy, told Furniture Today that Jeffco is “a world-renowned name” with unique casegoods and upholstery designs, and distribution in the United Kingdom, Western Europe, Russia and China, in addition to the United States.
A person who answered the phone at American Century said Jiang is in China and no one else would comment.
“I want the world to accept American style through the Jeffco and Chelsea Frank names,” Jiang told Furniture Today. “By merging them at the high end, we will make it a one-stop shopping experience.”
American Century Home Fabrics supplies Chinese-made fabric to the furniture industry. It also is nearly ready to open a 1.5 million-square-foot factory in Hangzhou, China.
The former Swink Plant, a 572,000-square-foot building, was constructed in 1965 as the last facility built by Cannon Mills. It was vacant after Pillowtex shut down in July 2003 until the summer of 2005.
Among Jeffco’s major assets is a finishing operation in Hickory that is part of its 150,000-square-foot facility. Jeffco was founded in 1969 and Jeff Gaynor and his wife, Paula, remaining principals in the business.
The company’s Web site is www.americancenturyhome. com.
