Manufacturers get hit hard on the home front.

• Position: Furniture

Furniture makers say it will only be a matter of time before consumers return -- in full force. At least that's what they hope. No, pray. After a tough year, their industry has nowhere to go but up.

In 2001, the industry lost more than 5,000 jobs in North Carolina. Thomasville-based Thomasville Furniture Industries shuttered plants in Hickory and West Jefferson, chopping 339 jobs. Lexington-based Lexington Home Brands closed a case-goods plant in Spruce Pine, pink-slipping 296 plant workers and eliminating 60 office jobs. Connecticut-based Ethan Allen Interiors closed its 238,800-square-foot factory in Asheville, laying off 350. And Michigan-based Haworth will close a casegoods plant in Columbus County this year, laying off 345.

A Tennessee layoff actually brought a benefit to North Carolina. High Point-based Universal Furniture is building a 345,000 square-foot distribution center in its hometown, scaling back work in Tennessee and moving 100 jobs here.

"It's unquestionably been the toughest year we have experienced in more than 30 years," says Joseph Logan, vice president of financial services for the American Furniture Manufacturers Association. Logan's group estimates that furniture shipments totaled $22.9 billion in 2001, a decrease of 10.3% from $25.6 billion in 2000.

Attendance was down about 25% at the fall International Home Furnishings Mart in High Point, which is an industry bellwether. "Most of the decline in attendance was from smaller dealers and international buyers," says AFMA spokeswoman Cindy Scheaffer. "The major stores were there. I didn't hear much complaining, although exhibitors did note the slower traffic. They'll try to make up for a drop in market orders by sending their reps on the road."

Furniture makers got smacked by the recession and imports. "The quality of imports has improved significantly, especially from China," Logan says. "We can't compete with their pricing, so we'll have to beat them in customer service and delivery."

Buyer skittishness stemming from the recession and Sept. 11 shouldn't linger long into 2002, especially if the United States succeeds in its war against terrorism. Forecasters had predicted a rise in sales for the last quarter of 2001, but Sept. 11 pushed that forward to 2002.

The industry may even get a boost from the uncertainty surrounding the war. "Consumers are traveling less and spending more time at home," says Jackie Hirschhaut, an AFMA vice president." And many of them may want...