Hassell H. Franklin,
Hassell H. Franklin, Founder & CEO, Franklin Corporation
The Fabric
"Almost everything else is made in China... there's almost no fabric made here."
— Hassell H. Franklin, Founder & CEO, Franklin Corporation
"We buy cut and sewn kits from China."
— Hassell H. Franklin
"We would like to do more cut-and-sew here in house... Since there are virtually no fabric mills here... the solution is to order well in advance and stockpile the fabrics, then cut-and-sew in America."
— Hassell H. Franklin
Hassell H. Franklin,
Hassell H. Franklin, Founder & CEO, Franklin Corporation
"We buy in buns like big loaves of bread. We have German CNC machines to cut the foam to patterns."
— Hassell H. Franklin
Interview is dated March 13, 2014.
https://www.homefurnishingshalloffame.com/hassell-h-franklin-franklin-corporation
Here's every supplier location identified across our research, organized by category — this pulls from the import records, physical component labels, and the founder's own admissions.
China
| Location | Supplier | What they supply |
|---|---|---|
| Shenzhen | Limoss (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. | Power supply (ZB-A290020-B) and motor actuator (MD141-30-L1-157-333) — confirmed directly off your chair's own component labels |
| Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province | Jiaxing Shangpin Metal Co., Ltd. | Metal parts (~11.5 metric tons, HTS 9401.90 "parts of seats," shipped via Shanghai → Long Beach → Memphis) |
| Haining, Zhejiang | Haining Tangji Import & Export Co., Ltd.; Haining Jinzheng Furniture Co., Ltd.; Haining Mengnu Group | Fabric/textile trade, furniture components, "sponge parts" (foam-adjacent) |
| Hangzhou, Zhejiang | Hangzhou Yangtse River Delta Textile Co., Ltd. | Textiles (earliest confirmed shipment, Nov. 2011) |
| Guangdong Province | Guangdong Xinbao Electrical Appliances Holdings Co., Ltd.; Guangdong Yide Electric Appliance | Electrical appliance components (under the "Franklin USA" entity — flagged earlier as needing address confirmation before treating as definitively linked) |
| Shanghai | (port of departure, not a named supplier) | Export point for the Jiaxing metal shipment |
Note on the switch specifically: InSeat Solutions LLC's corporate address is La Verne, CA — but the actual switch on your chair is embossed "MADE IN CHINA" directly on the housing. So the company is American, the manufacturing is Chinese — worth keeping that distinction precise on your site.
Vietnam
| Location | Supplier | What they supply |
|---|---|---|
| Binh Duong Province | Hai An Wood Manufacturing Co., Ltd. | Wood-related seat parts (~11 metric tons, HTS 9401.99, August 2025 — recent, not historical) |
| Vietnam (city not specified in available records) | Hang Phong Furniture Company | Finished/near-finished seats — HTS 9401.61, "other seats, with wooden frames, upholstered" |
| Vietnam (city not specified) | Fubo Home Furnishing | Furniture components, April 2025 |
| Vung Tau | (port of departure) | Export point for the Hai An Wood shipment |
United States (domestic)
| Location | Supplier | What they supply |
|---|---|---|
| Houston, Mississippi | Franklin Corporation (own facility) | Final assembly, frame cutting (CNC, from purchased sheet stock), foam cutting/gluing, metal stamping |
| La Verne, CA | InSeat Solutions, LLC (corporate HQ) | Switch design/company of record — actual manufacturing is Chinese |
| Not location-specified | Weyerhaeuser; Georgia-Pacific | Engineered frame sheet stock (per founder's own 2014 admission) |
| Not location-specified | Leggett & Platt | Some reclining mechanisms (per founder's own admission, alongside in-house-made mechanisms) |
Import/logistics points
- Port of Long Beach, CA — the recurring West Coast entry point for both the Chinese and Vietnamese shipments
- International Port of Memphis, TN — inland destination for the China-sourced metal shipment, geographically the closest major port/rail hub to Houston, MS
- EPA FOIA response — letter submitted.
- MDEQ — letter submitted.
- CBP FOIA letter submitted
- EPA FOIA response — letter submitted
- MDEQ public records response — letter submitted
- CBP FOIA response — letter submitted
Construction
Alibaba
What's available — and how closely it matches your actual chair parts
Complete recliner mechanisms — dozens of manufacturers (Changzhou Regal Furniture Components, Foshan-based suppliers, Wuxi Jdr Automation, and others) sell fully assembled "gravity operated" and "electric power" recliner mechanisms as off-the-shelf products, priced roughly $14–29 per set, with minimum orders as low as 1 unit.
Linear actuators matching your exact specs — this is the notable part. Listed products include: "Low Noise DC 29V Slide or Track Recliner Chair Sofa Electric Linear Actuator With the Adapter" and "Linear Actuator 24-29v 600n-3000n Motor And Linear Actuator Micro Linear Actuator For Recliner Chair Parts." Your chair's actual Limoss actuator was rated 18-35V, 1000N pull — right in the middle of this generic, commodity product range sold by numerous competing Chinese suppliers. AlibabaAlibaba
Complete switches are also generic commodity items across the same marketplace category — same electrical class as the InSeat Solutions switch, not a proprietary design.
Where the manufacturing clusters actually are — worth noting for your file: "China remains the global epicenter for recliner mechanism manufacturing, with key production clusters concentrated in Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Guangdong provinces... Taizhou and Foshan have emerged as primary hubs." Your import records already named suppliers in Zhejiang (Jiaxing, Haining, Hangzhou) — this is a direct match to the exact regional cluster identified as the industry's manufacturing center. Alibaba
Power Reclining Furniture Recalled by Franklin | CPSC.gov
Franklin Corporation, of Houston, Miss.
Place of origin
Manufactured in China.
Companies
- Manufacturer
-
Logicdata AUSTRIA
- Distributor
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Franklin Corporation Houston Mississippi
UNITED STATES
This will be answered by the CPSC, The Canadadian Government, FTC, Deptof Justice