Smith Furniture is closing its doors after 68 years. - Waco Tribune-Herald (Waco, TX)

Byline: Mike Copeland

May 9--Harry Smith is battling both cancer and sagging demand for his product, so an icon of Waco business, Smith Furniture Manufacturing, is closing this week.

Smith, who turns 59 on Thursday, said by phone he was diagnosed about four weeks ago with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. He is undergoing chemotherapy treatments and spoke from his bed at Providence Health Center.

He said his prognosis is good.

'I've just got to work through this and get out,' said Smith, whose grandfather and father started the Waco business in 1939. It was among a dwindling number of small furniture-making plants in the country.

Harry and his son Mark Smith, 30, told the Tribune-Herald in February that they had resisted closing the plant because they didn't want their 'family' of longtime employees to find themselves out of work.

'I just want people to know there are some really, really good people out there now that the Waco market could pick up,' Harry Smith said.

'I hope to get some of them back myself,' said Smith, who would not rule out another business venture after he regains his health.

Employment at Smith Furniture Manufacturing had dropped to about 50 from 150 a few years ago and 100 just a few months ago.

'Business conditions in the last year have been incredibly tough,' said Mark Smith, who confirmed the plant at 5900 Franklin Ave. would close by week's end. By importing some furniture from China, with its lower production costs, the company had hoped to keep its plant open.

But combined with Harry Smith's illness, that wasn't to be.

'We were optimistic that our import and domestic lines of furniture would merge together nicely, but we can't control consumer spending,' Mark Smith said. 'We looked to recapitalize, but when investors saw dozens of other furniture companies closing or laying people off or shipping jobs to China, they became wary. My dad's health was another factor.' James DuBois, whose DuBois Furniture Co. will soon be celebrating its 46th anniversary, has known Harry Smith for years, through good times and bad.

'Business is tough for the typical furniture retailer across the country right now,' said DuBois, noting the national decline in home construction. 'But in Waco, so many homes are being built, our business is the best it's ever been.' Mark Smith said it was 'devastating' to have to tell longtime employees that Smith Furniture Manufacturing would close its doors.

'Yes, sir, it was a surprise. Now I need to go look for a job,' said Javier Camacho, who has worked for the company since 1979.

During a recent walk through the plant, Harry Smith pointed out Camacho as the consummate pro, someone who could use an air-driven staple gun like a wand to attach upholstery to a wooden frame.

Camacho's wife, Gloria, has worked for Smith Furniture for 17 years.

'We need to look for another place to work, but we don't have one in mind,' said Gloria, speaking by phone. She and other employees found it hard to believe that a company open for so many years would close.

'Was it a sad day? Yes,' said Gloria, who still is confident her husband will find work elsewhere because of his skill and strong work ethic.

Mark Smith said the plant will try to fill what orders it now has, then will auction off or sell everything else in the building. For years it has trucked merchandise to chains such as Lacks and The RoomStore, and every piece of furniture it delivered carried the Smith name.

To see more of the Waco Tribune-Herald, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.wacotrib.com.

Copyright (c) 2007, Waco Tribune-Herald, Texas

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.