History

Since its founding at the dawn of the 1900s, Lexington Home Brands has ridden the waves of changing economies and tastes with a number of structural changes; however, the crafting of stylish, quality furniture by the company's thousands of employees over the last century has always been and remains a labor-intensive process, from drying lumber in huge kilns to fashioning precision joints to more than a dozen steps in the hand finishing process.

The business began as Dixie Furniture Company, organized in 1901 by a group of Lexington, North Carolina, business leaders, and producing its first oak bedroom group on the site where our largest plant is still located in downtown Lexington. Dixie soon was part of a loose association of local furniture companies taking advantage of the region's abundant wood supplies and hand crafting skills.

The Family

Surviving fires, mergers, and dissolution, Dixie emerged in 1936 under the leadership of Henry T. Link, a Lexington native and accomplished businessman. Under Link, 90 employees made bedroom furniture from two wooden buildings covering 90,000 square feet. Joining Henry Link in the business were J. Smith Young and Bruce Hinkle, Link's nephew and son-in-law respectively, and Frank Taylor. Both Henry Link and Smith Young have since been honored with induction into the elite Furniture Hall of Fame.

As sales increased, the new company expanded throughout downtown Lexington, buying adjacent factory buildings, renovating them, and erecting new ones, until it eventually occupied nine city blocks and 31 acres of land.

Revolutionizing Furniture Manufacturing

In 1940, after visiting Henry Ford's automobile assembly plant in Detroit, Michigan, Mr. Link revolutionized the furniture industry with the introduction of automatic conveyors and mass production techniques to move furniture from one stage of assembly to the next. During the 1950s and '60s, four separate companies were established, with individual specialties: moderately priced bedroom furnishings were produced under the Dixie name; Link-Taylor manufactured fine solid wood bedroom and dining furnishings; Young Hinkle specialized in boys' bedroom furniture; and Henry Link became known for its girls' bedroom furniture and, beginning in the 1970s, was one of the first companies to popularize casual wicker furnishings. Long one of the most recognized names in wicker, casual, and occasional furnishings, Henry Link's innovative and high quality casual products continue today as Lexington's Henry Link Trading Company brand.

Acquisitions, Mergers & LBOs

In 1987, the Michigan-based Masco Corporation bought and merged the four Lexington companies into Lexington Furniture Industries. Lexington joined a prestigious group of Masco-owned home furnishings companies; in 1994, upholstery producer HickoryCraft was blended with Lexington, adding upholstered products to complement our expansive casegoods and casual collections.

In 1996, Lexington, along with our Masco sister companies, underwent a leveraged buyout, creating the independent LifeStyle Furnishings International. Then, in April 2002, a Lexington Home Brands management group joined with an equity partner to purchase the full-line furniture company from LifeStyle Furnishings, returning it once again to an independently owned company.

Lexington Home Brands Today

Lexington Home Brands, as the company is now known to reflect our brand-oriented focus, has grown from the original two small buildings in Lexington, NC, to an expansive manufacturing and import company. As a full-line furniture manufacturer, we produce bedroom, dining, casual dining, occasional, home entertainment, home office, youth, upholstered, leather, and wicker furniture for domestic and international customers. Local production is augmented with imported product and components manufactured to Lexington specifications in the Far East, Central America, and Europe. Over 2000 associates manufacture, service, distribute, and sell Lexington products.

A Brand and Lifestyle Leader

Lexington pioneered lifestyle furniture brands with the introduction of Bob Timberlake® in 1990—the world's all-time, best-selling furniture brand. Today the company is a recognized industry brand and lifestyle leader, designing, manufacturing, and marketing home furnishings for some of the world's most valued brand names: Tommy Bahama®, Liz Claiborne Home, Nautica, Palmer Home™, Bob Timberlake®, Lexington®, and Woolrich®; also youth brand Lexington Kids™.

As well as our current branded furniture lines, under the Lexington name, the company produces smaller groups, youth collections, and home entertainment and home office furnishings. In addition, Lexington Upholstery™, Lexington Leather™, and Lexington Accessories complement the company's wood and wicker casegoods, providing our customers with furniture and upholstery, plus bedding ensembles and home accessories, all carefully designed to help homeowners understand and capture the personality of a favorite brand, decorate and purchase furniture with confidence, and create inviting, coordinated settings in your home.

Lexington Home Brands products are distributed through an extensive base of independent home furnishings retailers, department stores, galleries, and designer showrooms in the United States and abroad.