Hospitality veteran Nick Hart has launched 410 Hogan—specializing in the production of high-end casegoods and upholstery for the hospitality market—in Morganton, North Carolina.
Located on a 30-acre plot, the 400,000-square-foot facility was repurposed from the last Drexel Heritage factory, which was renovated to include more than $1 million of computerized equipment and a $3.5 million multi-line finish system.
“Despite past demands for outsourcing, I found in the western communities of North Carolina to be a workforce that has not lost its desire for craftsmanship,” Hart explains. “410 Hogan will reunite these craftsmen with their passion of building exceptional furniture, and a community back to its roots of American made excellence.”
Hart has more than 37 years of experience in the hospitality industry, where he got his start as a sales representative with American of Martinsville and Drexel Heritage. He later joined Decca Hospitality Furnishings, where he served as president and CEO for 10 years. Under his leadership, the company grew to annual sales in excess of $52 million.
“410 Hogan will operate under a business model reminiscent of my 12-year tenure with Drexel Heritage, when designers, purchasers, and often owners, would visit our factory to see their products being made firsthand,” says Hart. “Having such an intimate and personal experience with customers was the most exciting and enjoyable [aspect] of my career, and the end results were phenomenal for the hotels. It’s my desire to return to a time when furniture manufacturing involved a close working relationship between the customer and the manufacturer.”
