WEST POINT, GA — Fresh into the new year and the removal of worldwide textile and apparel quotas, the carnage in the domestic textile industry continues.
WestPoint Stevens announced Jan. 10 that the company will realign and consolidate its Bed Products manufacturing capacity this year with the closing of five plants and the elimination of 2,465 employees.
The closings and work force reduction are directly related to the removal of textile quotas from low-wage countries, the company said.
The home textiles producer, operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, said that it is closing its Alamance Plant and Distribution Center in Burlington, NC, its fabricating and greige plants in Clemson, SC, its bath products manufacturing facility in Drakes Branch, VA, and its Distribution Center in Middletown, IN.
Additionally, WestPoint said it will reduce is work force by more than 50 percent at its Clemson Finishing Plant.
While some of the production at these locations will be shifted to other company facilities, a significant amount will now be sourced from other countries, the company said.
“This is another move in our ongoing strategy of adjusting as necessary to meet the challenges of doing business globally,” said WestPoint Stevens President and CEO M.L. “Chip” Fontenot. “We must be flexible in maintaining the most profitable balance between our domestic manufacturing and goods sourced from overseas. This becomes more critical with quotas removed.
“This restructuring will strengthen the company, with better-aligned capacity and greater freedom to market in a cost-efficient way those products most in-demand, he added. “Our goal, of course, is to ensure the company’s growth and profitability in a global economy.”
The Alamance Plant and Distribution Center in Burlington have some 560 employees; the Clemson Fabricating Plant and Distribution Center, about 760; the Clemson Greige Plant, about 340; the Drakes Branch Plant, about 450; and the Middletown Plant, about 110.
Some 245 jobs will be eliminated at the Clemson Finishing Plant.
Preparations for shutdowns at the individual facilities will get under way this month for an anticipated closing in late March or early April, WestPoint Stevens said. Likewise, the work force reduction at Clemson Finishing is expected to be completed by this time.
“We deeply appreciate the associates at these locations — indeed all our associates,” Fontenot said. “Their skills and perseverance over the years have made WestPoint Stevens a leader in our industry, and we sincerely regret that this restructuring is made necessary by today’s global marketplace, where so many of our products can be produced much less expensively in countries other than the U.S.”
After the closings, the company will have about 9,465 employees and 19 remaining factories in the United States.
As in past closings and work force reductions, WestPoint Stevens said it will apply by individual facility for assistance for laid-off associates from the Trade Act of 1974. In areas where affected plants are located near other WestPoint Stevens facilities, the company said it will attempt to place laid-off employees in jobs at the other plants.
WestPoint makes home fashions consumer products company, with a wide range of bed linens, towels, blankets, comforters and accessories.
