The Mayo Family – Leading the Way in Texarkana Since 1965
From left to right: Patrick, Stephen, Mike, Ben, & Linn Mayo
In the fall of 1965, Linn Mayo gathered his young family around the kitchen table for a very serious discussion. Linn’s wife, Dean, sat across from him with their two sons, Mike and Gary, on either side. His family was facing a crisis; Linn’s tenure as general manager of a small bedding and furniture manufacturer ended suddenly after the death of the owner, and he was faced with a career decision. Should he accept a comfortable offer already in hand and move the family from Texarkana, or take a leap of faith and start a new business? Linn, with the support of his family, took that leap.
Within a few weeks, an old warehouse building was located and converted for manufacturing space. “24,000 square feet of two floors with a post every 12 feet,” Linn would jokingly boast of his little factory. A few key suppliers, confident in Linn and eager to help him get started, provided raw material inventory on a ‘pay for it when you can’ basis. While Linn organized, Dean learned how to cut and sew mattress covers, along with producing work tickets and customer invoices. The boys learned many of the factory jobs and spent many late nights loading trucks after helping complete the day’s production. In a couple of years, a modest but healthy furniture factory was humming along in east Texas.
By 1969, the business had outgrown the small factory, so a new facility was built. Since then, it has been enlarged several times over the years, most recently in 2016, when the business completed another expansion of 10,000 square feet. The Mayo family have always been eager to embrace new technology in upholstery manufacturing; investments in automated fabric and leather cutting, wood panel processing, and foam fabrication have enabled industry-leading order-to-shipment cycle times and allowed for a higher quality of furniture. These tools in the hands of a well-trained workforce-led by eager and effective management-have provided the company with staying power.
Now, over 50 years later, the Mayo family has grown to more than 200 employees and serves the entire country and beyond. Linn has since stepped down and Mike, along with his sons-Stephen, Ben, and Patrick-now own and manage the company. “Be the captain of your ship,” Linn would always tell the Mayo boys. That mentality has shaped these brothers and lives to fruition each day within the factory walls. Family has always been the number one priority, and the values shared by Linn and his family remain the cornerstone for how they do business today.
“Made in the USA” is very much a part of the mantra at Mayo. The family takes enormous pride in the fact that they make product right here at home; not only are their products American Made, but they support jobs and commerce at home by purchasing materials here in America. Simply put, Mayo Furniture’s mission is to keep the trust that was given in that initial handshake and make furniture that the family would be proud to put in their own homes.
After the passing of Linn in the spring of 2017, the company continues to hold the vision and direction that was built by Linn and Dean more than half a century ago. While the appearance of the furniture has changed over the years, the dedication to quality craftsmanship has not. In the fall of 2024, the third-generation furniture manufacturer returned to its roots with a new mattress line. Linn or “Papaw Mayo” as employees knew him, would be proud. The new Mayo brothers -Stephen, Ben and Patrick-along with their father Mike, carry the torch onward.