The founder of a successful furniture company tried to get ahead of President Trump’s disruptive tariff policies by opening a factory in the United States. Just 10 months later, he had to close the plant.
Bruce Krinsky and his wife, Chaya Krinsky, launched TOV Furniture in 2013 to serve shoppers seeking something between inexpensive IKEA products and higher-priced offerings from retailers such as Crate & Barrel and Pottery Barn.
The couple grew TOV into a business generating $100 million a year, largely by selling sofas priced around $900. Their success made them wealthy and enabled them to move with their three daughters into a Miami Beach property now valued at $6 million. Realty sites say they paid $2.5 million for the home in 2020.
TOV’s business model depended heavily on the low-cost, efficient factories and labor force available in China. That became a major concern after Trump said during the 2024 campaign that he intended to impose steep tariffs on Chinese imports.
Krinsky told The Wall Street Journal that he voted for Trump three times because he considered him the most business-friendly candidate. To reduce its exposure to China, TOV shifted a substantial share of production to Vietnam.
During Trump’s second term, however, Krinsky was caught off guard when Vietnam was also targeted for tariffs.
Encouraged by the president’s claim that tariffs would revive American manufacturing, Krinsky decided to establish a plant in High Point, North Carolina. The city was once a major furniture center and still promotes itself as the Furniture Capital of the World.
He took over a struggling factory in the city, but the economics quickly proved unworkable. After only 10 months, Krinsky shut the facility and laid off 45 employees.
Bruce and Chaya Krinsky founded a successful furniture company and opened a US factory in response to President Trump’s tariffs, but closed it after 10 months
TOV Furniture was created to serve the middle of the market, offering products such as those pictured here
The Krinskys built TOV Furniture into a $100 million-a-year company, allowing them to move into this Miami Beach home valued at $6 million
The failed experiment left Krinsky deeply frustrated. He told The Wall Street Journal that trying to make the American plant viable “was like being constantly punched in the gut.”
“What exactly is an American business supposed to do?” he asked. “We’re trying to do what the government wants.”
During Trump’s first term, TOV relied on seven Chinese suppliers producing a steady stream of sofas priced near $900.
Although Trump had already imposed 25 percent tariffs on Chinese goods, Krinsky kept prices down by persuading manufacturers to absorb part of the additional expense.
In 2023, Trump told voters he planned to raise tariffs on China even further. Anticipating a Trump victory, Krinsky urged his largest supplier to establish a factory in Vietnam.
The manufacturer agreed, building a plant outside Ho Chi Minh City. Workers there put in as many as 10 hours a day, six days a week, for annual pay of approximately $8,000.
The Vietnamese facility opened in March 2025. Within weeks, however, Trump announced plans for a 46 percent tariff on Vietnam and an additional 34 percent increase on Chinese tariffs.
By then, inflation and supply-chain problems had already pushed the retail price of TOV’s sofas to roughly $1,250.
The Krinskys opened a High Point, North Carolina, factory as they prepared for higher tariffs. They are pictured with a furniture designer at an event in the city
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Operating the US factory cost substantially more than overseas production, even after accounting for shipping and tariff savings. A TOV Furniture storefront is shown
The proposed tariffs would have driven the price closer to $2,000, more than twice the range that had helped make TOV successful.
At that price, Krinsky told The Wall Street Journal, “there’s no reason for us to exist.”
That prompted him to explore domestic production. He found a High Point factory only weeks from insolvency and acquired it from its former owners for nothing, agreeing to keep it operating and invest in the business.
The labor situation immediately presented a serious obstacle. A shortage of American upholsterers meant the factory needed to offer salaries ranging from $45,000 to $90,000.
At the lower end, that was more than 5.5 times the pay of a Vietnamese worker; at the upper end, it exceeded 10 times the Vietnamese salary.
Labor and materials together cost about $280 per sofa in Vietnam, compared with $1,000 in the United States.
Krinsky nevertheless believed the operation could succeed. He expected to improve efficiency, promote the furniture as American-made and save on overseas shipping and tariffs.
In practice, the total manufacturing cost for a sofa at the US plant reached $1,230, nearly twice the $655 cost in Vietnam.
Krinsky said that if TOV Furniture had to raise prices too sharply, “there’s no reason for us to exist.” An advertisement for a TOV Furniture table is shown
After closing its American plant, TOV Furniture now makes 70 percent of its products in Vietnam and the remainder in China. A page from the company’s website is shown
Krinsky had hoped to sell the American-made sofas for $1,500, leaving only $270 to cover overhead, returns, marketing and profit.
The High Point facility also produced only two or three sofas per day, while the Vietnamese plants made about 10.
“The Vietnamese and Chinese factories are much more efficient. From my personal opinion, culturally, they’re very hungry,” Krinsky told The Wall Street Journal. “In the US, we’re either too comfortable or burnt out.”
He said TOV was losing at least $100 on every sofa made in America. During the 10-month effort to keep the factory operating, the company lost $3 million.
On July 31, Krinsky told employees that the plant would close.
TOV now manufactures about 70 percent of its products in Vietnam, where tariffs currently stand at 25 percent, and the remaining 30 percent in China, where tariffs are 50 percent.
Those rates are scheduled to rise to 30 percent for Vietnam and 55 percent for China in January.
“I came in really hoping that this administration would be really positive for business,” Krinsky told The Wall Street Journal.
“I wish they were more in touch with the reality of what is happening on the ground and what people really want.”
