Furniture company's revival has global message

[myxpykalix]

This is kind of an interesting article

http://www.centurylink.net/news/read.php?rip_id=%3CD9U07K180%40news.ap.org%3E&ps=1011

[adrianm]

I was watching a programme the other day about how pretty much the same thing is happening in the UK.

It was interesting to note that in some of the large Chinese cities manufacturing costs are approaching those of the countries were the goods were originally made.

Some companies are choosing to develop new factories further into China but others are coming back to the ready made infrastructure in the Western countries.

Even in the cases where the manufacturing is still in China the bulk of the profit is in the Western country that designs the products, markets it and distributes it.

Add in the increasing awareness of the general public regarding the mileage their goods travel and the effect on the economy of buying cheap foreign goods and it can only be good news for the future.

[chiloquinruss]

That story is a great read but this country has got to get the politicians and educators to read these articles not the folks on the bottom of the pyramed! I just this past week I attended a city council meeting where they were LOOKING for solutions to our local 25% unemployment status! They are seeking companies to come to our community. Who are they seeking - MacDonalds, Burger King, etc,. The city owns the local airport, the airport is surrounded by 75% unimproved land (all ownded by the city), serviced by the two biggest railroads on the west coast - and they are seeking Burger King! Give me a break! Remember the thread not long ago about the schools shutting down the shop classes in favor of domestic cullinary skill classes (Burger King)! Its all tied together. If we can't give the kids the skills to work in the trades then bringing back the trades will NOT work! I am not a radical and certainly no politician but this is not rocket science, if we have skilled workers, the work will be first class, and the products produced will be good and of course Made In America! Like I said the article was a good read! Russ

[bleeth]

The issue with getting the Politicians to act intelligently is a quite simple one. The majority of folks when given different candidates to vote for look for people they can relate to. Of course, once you start taking into account large numbers of people what you end up with is averages. Therefore the greatest number of people elected are average.
My High School history teacher put it best: "Democracy Breeds Mediocrity". Of course that doesn't mean I support a dictatorship as there is no such thing as a long standing benevolent one.
Only independant thinking business people can get this thing moving again in our system.

[michael_schwartz]

“We can not solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them”
― Albert Einstein

[gerryv]

My son and I have been doing some light renovation and redecoration to my house in preparation for selling. My thought was that with our labour and about $2,500 we could get between $5,000-$10,000 back out and, more importantly make ours more attractive than the ones we were competing against.

My idea was that the buyers would likely be young and have no extra cash to do it themselves and this would be the attraction. However, the real estate agent said this; "right strategy, wrong reason. They will choose it because of what you've done but there is a reason even more in play than the lack of additional money - virtually all of the younger folks can not do ANY of this stuff themselves. They have no training, knowledge or abilities when it comes to using even basic tools."

I'm guessing that is somewhat less if they grow up in the country but maybe not always. I taught at a unique technical high school where the kids had to carry a full academic load as well as their tech courses and could go directly into university or college. The school board shut it down.:(

[myxpykalix]

From being in Real Estate, right now, the market is such that, by doing the work yourself what you are doing is not so much adding to the value and asking price of the house but adding to the appeal and saleability of the property.

The only issue i have seen in the past is that you may be remodeling to YOUR tastes and not the potential purchaser. I have seen people spend thousands on a remodel only to have the purchaser come in and rip it all out. Or lose sales because the potential buyers didn't like your taste.

A sales strategy i have used in the past is I have told my agent with a finalized purchase they could come in and pick designs, colors, materials (up to a point and price) and i would install it for them. If we are talking just a few days of work and you were going to do it anyway why not do it to their tastes? It is a good selling technique. Just add a few more weeks to the move in date and then AFTER you close on the property and get money in hand, do the work.
They would have to hire someone else anyway so hype it as a "custom makeover with purchase":D
It seems we are developing a nation of scientists and hamburger flippers and nothing in between. The problem is that we have been controlled by politicians who want to save the environment by getting rid of manufacturing in this country.

[adrianm]

virtually all of the younger folks can not do ANY of this stuff themselves. They have no training, knowledge or abilities when it comes to using even basic tools."

I suppose it depends on your point of view. Over here a lot of the youngsters don't do DIY because they don't know how AND because they can afford to pay others to do it for them.

Now I know several other youngsters who have spotted the need for tradespeople to fill that demand and have taken themselves off to technical college to get trained. Often they have to borrow money to pay for that training.

I suppose it comes down to whether you think the state should educate people in different trades or if it's down to the state to give them a basic grounding in the three R's plus the sciences and a bit of history.

Personally I think it's down to business to educate people to fill the roles they need and for the people with get up and go to educate themselves.

I've always paid for my own training (or taught myself, it's not rocket science after all!) from a very young age and kept an eye on what's happening in the world to ensure that I'm up to speed with the skills required.