However, such quality doesn't come cheap. Among the items for sale during and immediately after its closeout: a 48-inch computer wall cabinet with an Oxford finish for $4,565; a 36-inch wall cabinet with Oxford finish for $3,498; a blue leather office chair for $775; an 84-inch pedestal desk with Centennial finish for $6,485. Now, its remaining pieces will be auctioned.
For years, Statton relied on customers who relished buying furniture that would last a lifetime, and sometimes passed it down to their children.
"There is a market of people out there that are looking for quality furniture that are willing to pay for it," said Gary Rohrer.
Yet the larger market prefers lower-priced furniture, including the variety that, as he says, looks good but often is "junk that's plastic or stapled or laminated."
Smith said high-end manufacturers were among the last hit by the effect of the overseas markets, in part because they make a small number of pieces and foreign makers initially specialized in "big production runs" of lower-quality furniture.
Eventually, Smith said, overseas manufacturers began churning out high-end look-alikes. The high-end makers may sell a furniture suite for $15,000, while a similar-looking product made in China goes for $7,500.
"There are quality issues ... but it certainly looks the same," he said.
Hardinge bristles at the thought of furniture stores that sell low-quality furniture, offering financing options that sometimes delay initial payment for up to five years.
"That furniture may fall apart before you begin paying for it," said Hardinge, adding that perhaps the biggest casualty is consumers' appreciation of well-made furniture.
"They look at a piece [from a retail store] and one from Statton, and outwardly they may look similar, but they don't have the knowledge to truly understand what goes into it," he said.
Statton cabinetmaker Bill Eckard, 52, knows, having worked at the company for 34 years before leaving earlier this fall. During the closeout sale, he described to a would-be customer the detail that went into the making of an elaborate dresser, then opened one of its drawers and discovered that it was one he had made. After so many years, he had lost track of much of his handiwork.
He was laid off the last week of October.
Before his departure, Eckard said the thought of leaving a company he had worked for since high school hadn't sunk in.
"I think the biggest change," he said, "is going to be when I get up in the morning to go to work and it's not going to be there."
Ironically, Hirschhaut says, Statton is closing its doors at a time when American furniture manufacturing has recently showed signs of a comeback. In some cases, companies finding it more expensive to do business overseas are limiting production there while relaunching domestic operations.
"The real crime is that Statton couldn't have hung on longer, because the tide is turning," Hirschhaut said.
But for Hardinge, the industry's recent bright spots aren't significant enough to justify pressing on.
"It doesn't look to be enough of an uptick that would allow us to continue operation," he said. "I still feel we're making the right choice. I don't think we could hold on."
