Biggs Furniture

Biggs Furniture was a twentieth-century American furniture manufacturer based in Richmond, Virginia. The company became known primarily for colonial reproduction furniture, producing historically styled furnishings for residential customers as well as institutional and public interiors. Its work belonged to a broader Virginia furniture-making tradition and occupied the same general market as other reproduction-oriented manufacturers, including Kittinger’s Colonial Williamsburg-related production, Ethan Allen, and Pennsylvania House. The company’s manufacturing operations were associated with a plant at 900 West Marshall Street in Richmond. That building has since been restored and converted into an apartment complex, while surviving examples of Biggs furniture remain part of the material history of Richmond and American reproduction furniture. Biggs pieces were used in private homes and appeared in prominent public and hospitality settings, including the Hotel John Marshall and the Miller & Rhoads Tea Room. In 1975, Biggs Furniture was purchased by the Kittinger Company, a Buffalo, New York furniture manufacturer with its own long association with historically inspired furniture. The acquisition connected Biggs to a larger specialist furniture business, although Biggs continued to be identified as a distinct Richmond-based name during the later part of its existence. Alfred Hemmings served as Biggs Furniture’s final president. He had joined the company from Kittinger Furniture of Buffalo. After leaving Biggs in the late 1970s, Hemmings returned to England, where he became managing director of Brett & Sons in Norwich, East Anglia. He returned to Biggs as president in the early 1980s and remained in that role until the business closed. During his tenure, Biggs supplied furnishings for the White House and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. The available reference material does not establish a precise founding year, closure year, founder, or complete ownership history beyond the 1975 Kittinger acquisition.

Biggs Furniture was one of the many furniture makers that operated in Virginia during the twentieth century. Its base was Richmond, a city with a substantial manufacturing and commercial history, and the company became particularly associated with colonial reproduction furniture. This specialization placed Biggs within a national market for furniture modeled on earlier American styles. The company’s contemporaries included the Kittinger Company, whose Colonial Williamsburg-related work helped define the heritage-reproduction segment, along with mass-market brands such as Ethan Allen and Pennsylvania House. Biggs manufactured furniture at 900 West Marshall Street in Richmond. The plant later underwent restoration and was converted into an apartment complex, preserving the site as a reminder of the city’s industrial and furniture-making past even after the company ceased operations. Biggs products were not limited to private residences. Examples were also used in public and hospitality spaces, including the Hotel John Marshall and the Miller & Rhoads Tea Room, demonstrating the company’s role in furnishing recognizable Richmond interiors. A major ownership transition occurred in 1975, when the Kittinger Company purchased Biggs Furniture. Kittinger was based in Buffalo, New York, and had an established presence in historically styled furniture. The acquisition brought Biggs into the orbit of a related furniture manufacturer while retaining the Biggs identity in the available historical record. Alfred Hemmings was the company’s final president. He came to Biggs from Kittinger Furniture of Buffalo. Hemmings left Biggs in the late 1970s and returned to England, his country of birth, to become managing director of Brett & Sons in Norwich, East Anglia. He later returned to Richmond and resumed the presidency of Biggs in the early 1980s. He led the company until it shut its doors. During this later period, Biggs provided furnishings for the White House and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, linking its production to nationally significant and heritage-related settings. The available reference material does not provide a confirmed founding date, the identity of the founder, a precise closure date, sales or employment figures, or a detailed account of the company’s post-acquisition structure. Biggs is therefore best understood today as a defunct Richmond furniture manufacturer whose surviving products, former factory, and documented institutional commissions contribute to the history of American colonial reproduction furniture.

1. 1975Acquisition by Kittinger Company

   The Kittinger Company purchased Biggs Furniture, linking the Richmond manufacturer with a Buffalo-based company active in historically styled furniture.

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2. Later presidential tenure of Alfred Hemmings

   After returning from England in the early 1980s, Alfred Hemmings again served as president and remained in the role until Biggs Furniture closed.

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A Richmond-based manufacturer of colonial reproduction furniture serving residential, institutional, hospitality, and heritage-oriented interiors.

• Colonial reproduction furnitureFurniture

  Biggs Furniture’s principal identity was as a manufacturer of furniture reproducing colonial-era American forms. The products were historically styled rather than modernist and were used in homes as well as public, hospitality, and heritage-related interiors. The available sources do not provide a complete catalog or identify individual named collections.

• 1975Kittinger acquisitionM&A

  Biggs Furniture operated in the colonial reproduction furniture market alongside Kittinger and other American manufacturers.

  What changed. The Kittinger Company purchased Biggs Furniture.

  Aftermath. Biggs continued to be described as a Richmond-based furniture name for a period afterward, but the business ultimately shut its doors.

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1. Biggs Furniture