I have been in the same boat. It wasn't 100 years old, and it wasn't a furniture company, but it ended exactly the way yardie described it :-) No one wants you there because they see you as a waste of money and a threat. A lesson to be learnt I guess.

Scene: Mid-city warehouse district. Me at job interview early 2000s.

Me: So what is it you do here. The job description says you are looking for a developer?

Them: Oh, we make and sell boxes.

Me: Like the cardboard boxes you get delivered?

Them: Yes, exactly!

Me: Okay, so where does software fit in that? Are you aware of development cycles? {Other interview questions I can't remember}

Them: Oh, we don't know the technical part too much. We want to automate some of it.

Me: ...

They're well positioned to build whole new platforms.