Brass Beds of Virginia rebrands to Worthen Furniture, expands to 40,000

Worthen Furniture CEO Lud Kimbrough talks about the company's new name and how their custom furniture is made

Facing declining sales from a marketplace flooded with cheaper overseas products and evolving customer buying habits, a 48-year-old Richmond-area bed maker has reinvented itself from an everyday manufacturer into an upscale, artisanal brand.

Founded in 1975, Brass Beds of Virginia has been a leading maker of American handcrafted custom beds. As of September, it has a new name: Worthen Furniture.

That name change embodies the company's new direction in a couple of ways. First, it lets buyers know that the company has more than just beds made with brass.

Kat Nguyen demonstrates her hand painting work at Worthen Furniture, formerly Brass Beds of Virginia, the Richmond-based leading maker of American handcrafted custom beds and a favorite of top local designers.

"We went through a long process to identify a name that would be ‘worthy of your investment’ and ‘a worthwhile product,’" Worthen CEO Lud Kimbrough said. "It was important for it to register with people. Brass Beds is really just a product, and you can't get a trademark on it."

The move away from the word "brass" is an important repositioning of the company's image. Although it has been known for its polished brass and raw brass bed frames, those account for only about 20% of Worthen's overall sales. The majority of its buyers are looking for bed frames made of iron.

The second distinction is in the "furniture" part of the name. Although the company's lead product is still luxury bed frames, it's also added a number of other options, such as benches, dining and coffee tables, dog beds and end tables.

"Brass beds really boxed us in," Kim Creekmore, director of operations, said.

Worthen Furniture is led by CEO Lud Kimbrough, from left, Kimberly Bostain, design and sales, Kim Creekmore, director of operations and Patrick Williams, studio manager.

William Bridgforth started Brass Beds in the 1970s, and he was later joined by Pat Hudgins. They started by buying old beds at auctions and repairing them for resale. That later turned into building brass beds from scratch, before adding iron beds in the 1980s.

The company eventually grew to have about 35 employees, but things slowly declined after a recession in 2001, and then more dire sales declines hit after the 2008 recession.

In 2016, the company was purchased for an undisclosed fee by a group of eight investors. That group is now down to five parties, led by John Corey, CEO of Henrico County-based CSC Leasing.

For most of Brass Bed's existence, the company's only real sales channel was retail stores. Worthen has abandoned retail since digital platforms, such as Amazon and Wayfair, have flooded the marketplace with cost-effective alternatives. Worthen is making a bigger play in the digital space, having launched its website on Nov. 1, where customers can buy its products.

Welder Justin Roman works on a bed at Worthen Furniture, which launched a website Nov. 1 to sell its luxury bed frames, benches, dining and coffee tables, dog beds, end tables and more.

The company's primary markets are now in direct-to-customer sales and upscale hospitality customers. Its challenge in the digital space is showing customers that its beds are a premium product, which is hard to convey on a screen. Kimbrough, the CEO, says the company hardly gets a digital sale where the customer doesn't get a phone call from Kimberly Bostain, sales manager.

"We have great photography for people to look at online, but it's hard to convey that without sending them a sample," Bostain said. "You have to mail pieces to them so that they can feel the weight; it's my job to translate that to them."

Although the website offers standard designs, just about every piece of the bed is customizable – metals used in the frame, hand-bent pieces of iron and brass, adorning elements and frame shapes. They haven't counted up the total number of bed possibilities, but they estimate it's in the thousands.

The entire buying process from start to finish takes from four to six weeks, and the average bed price is around $4,000. Iron skews lower, at around $3,200, and brass has a higher cost, around $5,500. A custom $13,000 bed with an array of combined pieces was the most expensive bed the company has sold.

Ralph Sharpe demonstrates the buffing process at Worthen Furniture, which promotes the craftsmanship and creativity that goes into its designs.

The rebranded name is combined with a physical move. Worthen left Scott's Addition – where it previously had two manufacturing spaces – for a new 40,000-square-foot studio at 4300 Carolina Ave. in Henrico, adjacent to the Richmond Raceway. They finished the move in September.

Doubling its previous space gives Worthen room to grow its workforce, as it plans to expand its current team of nine.

Referring to the new facility as a studio, rather than a factory or manufacturing plant, was an intentional change in the culture of the business, Kimbrough said. The company has targeted new hires from art schools across the country, having recently gotten two from Virginia Commonwealth University's sculpture program.

"It shows the level of craftsmanship and creativity that goes into these designs. We’re getting away from saying that this is a more blue-collar welding job," Kimbrough said. "The mindset is that we’re creating a beautiful bed using welding."

Head caster Alex Thomas works on a bed frame at Worthen Furniture's studio.

That freedom to create ideas and problem-solve builds is crucial for one of its biggest growth targets in the immediate term. Worthen is looking to grow its presence with designers who are starting collections. It has already collaborated with locals, such as Janie Molster, Anne Hulcher Tollett and Sara Hillery. They’re looking to collaborate with more designers nationwide as those artists look for specialized artisans.

The company's customers come from all over the United States. Its highest individual state in terms of sales volume is still Virginia, but 75% of total sales come from outside the commonwealth.

Worthen has added a technological aspect into the mix that tracks its orders and sends email to customers through every stage of the process.

Another growth area Worthen wants to expand into is the boutique hospitality market or Airbnb owners who order batches of beds. The company is in talks with an undisclosed developer in the state who is looking to turn a 300-room property into a 150-room hotel.

According to Worthen, it's heading into that future with a new mindset intended to capture the "enduring beauty, old-world craftsmanship and distinctiveness" of its pieces.

Kane Corey demonstrates the powder coating process as he works on a bed frame at the furniture studio Worthen on February 14, 2023. Formerly Brass Beds of Virginia, the Richmond-based leading maker of American handcrafted custom beds and a darling of top local designers, recently rebranded and has expanded to a new headquarters, a 40,000 sq. foot state-of-the-art facility in Henrico, VA. EVA RUSSO/TIMES-DISPATCH

Finished bed frames await packaging after inspection at the furniture studio Worthen on February 14, 2023. Formerly Brass Beds of Virginia, the Richmond-based leading maker of American handcrafted custom beds and a darling of top local designers, recently rebranded and has expanded to a new headquarters, a 40,000 sq. foot state-of-the-art facility in Henrico, VA. EVA RUSSO/TIMES-DISPATCH

Worthen Furniture is led by CEO Lud Kimbrough, from left, Kimberly Bostain, design and sales, Kim Creekmore, director of operations and Patrick Williams, studio manager.

Head caster Alex Thomas demonstrates the casting process while working on a bed frame at the furniture studio Worthen on February 14, 2023. Formerly Brass Beds of Virginia, the Richmond-based leading maker of American handcrafted custom beds and a darling of top local designers, recently rebranded and has expanded to a new headquarters, a 40,000 sq. foot state-of-the-art facility in Henrico, VA. EVA RUSSO/TIMES-DISPATCH

Welder Justin Roman demonstrates his process at the furniture studio Worthen on February 14, 2023. Formerly Brass Beds of Virginia, the Richmond-based leading maker of American handcrafted custom beds and a darling of top local designers, recently rebranded and has expanded to a new headquarters, a 40,000 sq. foot state-of-the-art facility in Henrico, VA. EVA RUSSO/TIMES-DISPATCH

Head caster Alex Thomas works on a bed frame at Worthen Furniture's studio.

Ralph Sharpe demonstrates the buffing process at Worthen Furniture, which promotes the craftsmanship and creativity that goes into its designs.

Welder Justin Roman works on a bed at Worthen Furniture, which launched a website Nov. 1 to sell its luxury bed frames, benches, dining and coffee tables, dog beds, end tables and more.

Worthen has added technology that tracks its orders and sends email to customers through every stage of the process. Here, Alex Thomas demonstrates the casting process for a bed frame.

Sean Jones (804) 649-6911

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Twitter: @SeanJones_RTD

Sean Jones is the business reporter for the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

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