On a recent trip to Argentina and Mexico, Gov. Jim Hunt joined Mexican and North Carolina business leaders to dedicate space to Carter and Bernhardt furniture lines at the upscale Mexican interior design company, David Lozano Interiors.

Carter Furniture, operating at 1000 N. Long St., is one of Rowan County’s top 100 employers, and Bernhardt manufactures furniture in Lenoir. The two companies are the only North Carolina furniture makers represented in the Mexican galleries.

Bill Ward, president and major stockholder of Carter Furniture, said they’ve been doing business with David Lozano for about 11

“He has more of a designer, decorator type of showroom,” Ward said Tuesday. “This is the first time he is going to have a big Carter gallery in his showroom in Mexico. He will have about 10 groups of our furniture. This would go to higher income people in Mexico. One of these groups is our version of Roche-Bobois.”

Ward said Carter Furniture specializes in high-end or upscale furniture styles reflecting a variety of contemporary American and European influences. “This kind of furniture would not be sold in traditional furniture stores,” Ward said.

It ended up in the Mexico designer gallery almost by a fluke, thanks to the efforts of Carter’s sales rep in Dallas, Texas. “She sells mainly accessory lines,” Ward said. “We are the only furniture line she carries. She sells to David Lozano and while she was working with him in accessories, she showed him our furniture. Carter was just what he was looking for.”

Until 1992, Carter Furniture was known as Carter Chair Co. and produced low-end furniture. When Ward took over in 1992, he targeted a clientele that preferred the more exotic furniture that appeals to designers and decorators.

Ward calls Carter’s lines “a high class look with an affordable price.”

Although he was invited to participate in the dedication ceremonies, Ward said it was too much of a trip for such a short time. “But we were happy to be figured into Gov. Hunt’s tour,” he said.