I am no market analyst but I am a custom furniture maker, and I can tell you that all the custom shops I know of -- that actually make custom furniture -- are small shops serving niche markets.

Demand for custom furnishing is on the rise again -- I figure people are sick of the mass-produced Taiwanese and Chinese stuff that drove so many of the American furniture factories out of business.  But they can not compete with custom shops.

The economy here has taken a bite out of the demand, but we (Smoky Mountain Woodworks) are still maintaining a back-order list of pieces people have commissioned us to build, and the others I know of are all experiencing about the same: still working, just not as long a waiting list.

Because shipping a single piece of furniture overseas is expensive, most shops focus on a domestic market.  But occasionally we encounter someone who is willing to spend the money to have a special piece made and shipped out of the Continental USA.  We have shipped smaller pieces to Hawaii, Canada, Ireland, and Australia.  Anyone with a web site has access to a global market i fthe y choose to pursue it.

www.CustomMade.com is a good directory of custom furniture makers.

All the best,