| There are two major purposes of this thesis: first, to determine the locational factors instrumental in the establishment of the furniture industry in the Southwestern Ontario furniture manufacturing region; secondly, based on regional cost factors, to evaluate the present competitiveness of this region as a furniture manufacturing area.;After 1850, with the development of a railway network which made long distance shipments profitable and with the utlization of steam power which made mass production feasible, the distribution of the Southern Ontario furniture industry began to develop a pattern of localization.;By 1911, as a result of high labour costs or the lack of local sources of hardwoods, or a combination of both these factors, the furniture industry had ceased to be an important industry in all but a few areas of the province.;The failure of this region to retain its unrivalled supremacy as a furniture manufacturing area can largely be attributed to the concentration of the upholstery and metal furniture industries In the large centres, and the development of a sizeable wooden furniture industry in Southern Quebec. (Abstract shortened by UMI.). |
