Skyline Furniture's newest manufacturing facility has it eyeing growth, more workers
In spite of economic uncertainty in 2025, Skyline Furniture last summer opened a 30,000-square-foot woodshop that can increase its overall manufacturing capacity by 30% to 40% for beds, chairs and other furniture sold to retailers such as Wayfair and Target.
Many U.S. businesses that rely on goods and materials from overseas were hit by President Donald Trump’s tariffs last year. But Skyline was more insulated because it has historically manufactured products locally. It’s the only large upholstered furniture maker near Chicago, according to CEO Meganne Wecker, the third-generation owner of a family business her grandfather founded in 1946.
The new workshop is equipped with hi-tech heavy machinery for cutting furniture frames and a new 3D frame design studio. It's the furniture maker’s third facility at its Thornton site in the south suburbs.
“The expansion significantly reduces our exposure to overseas supply chain disruptions and price volatility,” Wecker said.
Skyline expects the expansion to add about 50 people this year. That’s in addition to about 35 employees it hired last year for woodshop and printer roles, as well as operations, sales and more, bringing its total workforce to about 435. However, during stable times, Skyline would normally hire hundreds of workers each year.
The company began sourcing materials from the U.S. in 2018, when Trump imposed tariffs during his first term. At the same time, freight rates from China were also increasing. “We started to see the writing on the wall,” Wecker said. In 2019, Skyline began sourcing metal for bed frames from Michigan instead of China.
Last fall, Trump threatened tariffs of 25% to 50% on some furniture products, but on Dec. 31, the White House announced a one year delay on those duties.
“If the tariff moves forward, we expect to benefit from these measures over time as U.S.-made products become more competitive in the marketplace,” Wecker said.
There are materials that Skyline can’t source domestically, such as hardwood from Asia used for dining chairs. In addition, knit velvets are made predominantly in China. Costs for fabrics rose 8% to 10%, due to tariffs.
Skyline sources some fabric domestically and continues to invest in equipment to print fabrics.
Businesses such as Skyline are still trying to understand the implications of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling last week that certain tariffs were unconstitutional.
“We’re operating in an era where contingency planning is essential for every small business,” Skyline said in a statement.
Last year, Skyline continued to its e-commerce business, which grew more popular during the pandemic. People are more accustomed to buying large items like furniture online.
The company’s two biggest challenges are broader economic uncertainty and hiring skilled labor.
After booming during the pandemic, home sales and renovations have stagnated in recent years due to rising interest rates, economic uncertainty and other factors.
“When people aren’t buying homes, they aren’t buying furniture, and when our retail partners are hurting, we feel it too,” Wecker said. “The furniture industry as a whole is hurting.”
It’s still tough for Skyline to find skilled manufacturing workers such as carpenters, foremen, machine operators and plant managers.
“As a country, we lack the expertise to run large-scale factory production, as this hasn’t been a focus for the past decade. The pipeline of college graduates trained for this type of manufacturing is very limited,” Wecker said.
The federal government has been pushing to bring manufacturing back to the U.S., but that knowledge has been offshored, she said.
The furniture industry has been on a roller coaster for the past five years, but Skyline’s sales rose 22% in 2025.
“Right now, it’s all about flexibility and being okay with the uncertainty of everything,” Wecker said. “It is difficult. Business likes stability. We’re hopeful for that in the year ahead, but I honestly don't know.”