Although many brands of office furniture are made in factories in Canada and China, the U.S. has its share of manufacturing plants. There are even several here in California. The CFMA has listings on its website for most of these office furniture manufacturers. San Diego business owners who want to buy locally-made custom furnishings have quite a few companies to choose from.
Craftsman Office Furniture
These guys have been in business since the early 1970s. They specialize in casegoods, conference tables, and reception furniture. The Craftsman emphasis is on beautiful finishes that include not only wood veneers and laminates but also glass and marble. They are available to quote custom and built in jobs.
DeskMakers
This company started out very simply in 1964 with only a few product choices for their customers. Now, their factory churns out a broad range of office furniture collections in 18 standard thermofuse laminate finishes. Like Wendy’s hamburgers, these pieces are built to order while you wait. Surprisingly, lead times are still quite short – ranging from 1-2 weeks according to the website.
Salman Furniture
Albert Salman’s name remains associated with this extensive selection of office furnishings although the company was acquired by Mike Parkinson in 1993 (almost 20 years after the business was founded). It features a unique manufacturing facility of 75,000 square feet that is one single, high ceilinged room. 75 employees work in this space – giving it an extraordinarily high square footage to worker ratio. The entire production process is viewable from the showroom.
The Taylor Company
This company is the oldest of the group – going back all the way to 1816. It has been passed down through 7 generations and is among the top 30 oldest family owned businesses in the U.S. Not only does The Taylor Company have a rich tradition of desk and chair craftsmanship, they also boast a 100% union workforce and a well developed sustainability program.
That’s Not All
Of course, besides being located near several manufacturers, San Diego is also home to re-manufacturing companies. These dealers offer customers the ability to select finishes for high quality refurbished office furniture from leading U.S. brands at a deeply discounted cost.
There’s a reason that one of the most popular wood finishes is cherry. Office furniture that features this type of veneer is good looking and versatile. You can choose from lots of different looks with this wood. Although a classic stain makes cherry veneers a deep, rich reddish brown, cherry is available in quite a few different colors. Unstained cherry is often a light honey color. If it is sealed to retain this natural color, it can look a lot like maple. Or, it may be stained a very deep red brown to mimic species like mahogany.
