The High Point Furniture Market is winding down the second of its biannual events this week, and it comes with the return of a major brand founded in North Carolina.
Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams abruptly ended operations and shut down its factory in Taylorsville in August of 2023. Without warning, more than 400 workers lost their jobs, and the company’s prominent showroom in High Point closed as well.
The business is now back under new ownership after it was acquired by Surya Inc. late last year.
The factory has reopened, and a new showroom welcomes visitors for the first time in more than a year. It’s late in the fall market’s run but there’s still a good crowd coming in. Among the greeters is Mitchell Gold himself, who says being back in business makes him feel exhilarated.
"There's nothing here that's purely my idea, and there's nothing here that's anybody's singular idea," he says. "We just really work collaboratively together. So to see it all put together is really exciting for me.”
The showroom is filled with what Gold says made the company famous — comfortable furniture with eye-catching colors and soft fabrics.
Satya Tiwari’s family started Surya in India nearly 50 years ago and he says he was looking for a domestic company to expand. Mitchell Gold + Bob WIlliams seemed like a good fit.
“A lot of people out there, they think that this is going to be not as easy as we think," he says. "But we have such amazing customer base, our designers and consumers. So unless we really mess it up, this is going to be a fun ride.”
At its peak, Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams had about 700 employees in North Carolina. Tiwari says the goal is to get back to that level, but it will take a few years.