After three years in the far West as a government surveyor, John Mathias Bernhardt came back to this western North Carolina town in the 1880s and began working in lumber operations. Orphaned at age 13, he’d learned self-sufficiency early on, working at a local general store before heading west.
In 1889, Bernhardt formed his own company producing furniture from native white oak, the birth of Bernhardt Furniture Co., which today counts 12 operations facilities and more than 1,500 employees.
Generation two arose when John Mathias’ son George Bernhardt returned from Navy service to join the company in 1920 overseeing lumber operations. His brother, John Christian Bernhardt, went to work at the company in 1920 to run lumber operations in Swain County, N.C.
George stepped up to succeed his father upon John Mathias’ death in 1935. As president, he restructured Bernhardt Furniture, exiting the lumber business to focus on furniture. After George’s passing in early 1948, John Christian became company president. He led Bernhardt’s move into upholstery with the new Flair division in 1958.
After building another plant in 1964, Bernhardt made a series of acquisitions in the 1960s and ’70s to keep up with increasing demand. During that time, the third generation of Bernhardt leadership emerged when John Christian’s son Alex Bernhardt Sr. came on board in 1965 after growing up performing tasks such as stamping mail and sweeping floors.
Eleven years later, Alex Sr. was named president after his father passed along operational reins to his son and retired as chairman and CEO. John Christian fully retired as chairman emeritus in 1996, and Alex Sr. was named CEO and chairman. (Both are American Home Furnishings Hall of Fame inductees: John Christian in 1991 and Alex Sr. in 2011.)
Anne Bernhardt joined her husband, Alex. Sr., in 1984, first as marketing manager. She moved on as president of Bernhardt Design, the contract division formed in 1981 for contemporary furnishings targeting the market for offices and public spaces through architecture and design firms, running that division for many years. She now is vice-chair of Bernhardt Furniture Co.
A fourth leadership generation arose in 1987 when Rountree Collett, grandson of John Christian Bernhardt and nephew of Alex Bernhardt Sr., came on board as general manager of Bernhardt Casegoods. He progressed to executive vice president and CFO, then COO of Bernhardt Furniture Co. Eventually he served as president of Bernhardt Ventures before retiring last year.
Powell Slaughter, Furniture Today