The founder of a successful furniture business tried to anticipate President Trump’s jarring tariff policies by opening a factory in the US, but he was forced to close it after just 10 months.
Bruce Krinsky and his wife, Chaya Krinsky, founded TOV Furniture in 2013 with the aim of capturing the middle of the market between cheap IKEA furniture and more expensive pieces from places such as Crate & Barrel or Pottery Barn.
The couple built the company into a $100 million per year business by selling sofas in the $900 range. It made the Krinskys wealthy and allowed them to move with their three daughters into a $6 million Miami Beach home in 2020, purchased for $2.5 million at the time, according to realty sites.
The TOV furniture business model relied heavily on cheap and efficient Chinese factories and labor, which became a problem after Trump announced on the 2024 election campaign trail that he wanted to impose hefty tariffs on the country.
Krinsky, who told The Wall Street Journal that he voted for the president three times because he believed Trump was the most business-friendly candidate, adapted and moved a significant portion of manufacturing to Vietnam.
But during the president’s second term, Krinsky was blindsided when it was announced that tariffs would also be placed on Vietnam.
In light of the announcement and encouraged by the president’s assertion that the tariffs would revitalize domestic manufacturing, Krinsky decided to open a plant in High Point, North Carolina, a once-vibrant hub for the furniture industry that still calls itself the Furniture Capital of the World.
He took the plunge and took over a failing factory in the city. It soon became clear, however, that the math was unsustainable for his business, and Krinsky was forced to shutter the plant and lay off 45 people after just 10 months.
Bruce and Chaya Krinsky, the founders of a successful furniture company, tried to open a US factory because of President Trump’s tariffs but were forced to close it after 10 months
The Krinskys’ company, TOV Furniture, is aimed at the middle of the furniture market. Products produced by the company are pictured
TOV Furniture is a $100 million per year business that made the Krinskys wealthy and enabled them to move into this $6 million Miami Beach home
The experience left the businessman disillusioned. Trying to make the American factory work ‘was like being constantly punched in the gut,’ Krinsky told The Wall Street Journal.
‘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 Furniture had seven suppliers in China cranking out a steady supply of $900 sofas.
At the time, the president had already imposed 25 percent tariffs on China, but Krinsky kept the price of his products low by asking his manufacturers to absorb some of the costs.
In 2023, Trump promised voters that he would place even higher tariffs on China. Predicting Trump’s victory, Krinsky pushed his largest supplier to open a factory in Vietnam.
The manufacturer agreed and built a plant outside of Ho Chi Minh City, where laborers work up to ten hours per day, six days a week, for an annual salary of around $8,000.
The factory opened in March 2025, but just weeks later, Trump announced that he was planning to place a 46 percent tariff on Vietnam and increase Chinese tariffs by 34 percent.
By that point, inflation and supply chain disruptions had already increased the retail price of Krinsky’s sofas to around $1,250.
The Krinskys opened a factory in High Point, North Carolina, in anticipation of increasing tariffs. The couple is pictured with a furniture designer at an event in the city
The American factory was far more expensive to operate than international ones, even when taking shipping and tariff savings into account. A TOV furniture storefront is pictured
The tariffs would spike the price closer to $2,000, more than double the $900 range that had made TOV furniture a success.
Krinsky told The Wall Street Journal that at the elevated price, ‘there’s no reason for us to exist.’
That is when he decided to look into domestic manufacturing. He soon found a High Point factory that was just weeks away from insolvency and took it over from its previous owners for zero dollars by promising to continue operating it and invest in it.
The calculus was immediately a challenge, as the labor supply of American upholsterers meant that salaries at the factory would have to range from $45,000 to $90,000.
That was more than 5.5 times the salary for a worker in Vietnam on the low end, and more than 10 times on the high end.
The price of labor and materials in Vietnam was also just $280, but $1,000 in the US.
But Krinsky believed he could make it work, as he thought he could make the factory more efficient and take advantage of marketing his products as made in the US. He would also save on international shipping and tariff costs.
When all was said and done, however, the total manufacturing cost for a sofa at his US factory was $1,230, nearly twice the $655 cost in Vietnam.
Krinsky said that if TOV Furniture is forced to increase prices too much, ‘there’s no reason for us to exist.’ An ad for a TOV Furniture table is pictured
After being forced to close its American factory, TOV Furniture now produces 70 percent of its products in Vietnam and the rest in China. A page from the TOV Furniture website is pictured
Krinsky’s retail price target was $1,500, which left him just $270 for overhead, returns, marketing and profit for his American-made products.
The High Point factory also only produced two to three sofas a day compared to the Vietnamese factories’ 10 per day.
‘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.’
The businessman said he was losing at least $100 on each sofa produced in America. Over the 10 months he tried to make the US factory work, he lost $3 million.
On July 31, he made the difficult announcement to staff that the plant would be closing down.
TOV Furniture now produces around 70 percent of its products in Vietnam, where tariffs are currently 25 percent, and the rest in China, where tariffs are 50 percent.
Those rates are set to climb to 30 percent and 55 percent, respectively, 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.’
