Martinsville Bulletin, Inc.
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Martinsville, Virginia 24115
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| Lagging sales behind cuts, company says |
Glenn Prillaman |
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
By DEBBIE HALL - Bulletin Staff Writer
A slowdown in sales of adult furniture is prompting Stanley Furniture Co. Inc. to lay off nearly 200 workers.
Glenn Prillaman, president and chief operating officer of the company, said the restructuring will affect 150 hourly employees and 40 temporary workers.
“The economy just won’t let us be the same size company we were,” he said. “We are re-sizing to fit the economy.”
The majority of those affected will work the rest of this week, Prillaman said. Affected positions will be phased out over the next few weeks, and the reduction will be completed within two months, he said.
Employees were told about the layoff between 7 and 8 a.m. Tuesday, Prillaman said. Only employees in Stanleytown are affected, he added.
“We are working with every agency possible, local as well as state,” to help the employees being displaced, Prillaman said. Company officials also are looking for ways to help employees with retraining, he added.
The restructuring/layoff “is a very different scenario than layoffs” at other local companies, Prillaman said. Unlike other companies, “this is not” a prelude to Stanley’s closing, he said.
Many of those announcements were prompted by a shift in business strategies, and most occurred in 2000, when housing sales were up, he said.
Now, “we’re in a housing bust, not a housing boom,” Prillaman said.
In mid-September, Stanley Furniture announced plans to add 99 employees at the Stanleytown plant to help meet its goal of making all its Young America products in the United States. By mid-October, the company was considering cutting some salaried positions to help offset a year-to-date loss of $14.6 million.
“Revenue. Sales” prompted both decisions, Prillaman said. But, “there is really no change in our strategy.”
Stanley Furniture remains committed to domestic manufacturing, he said. He added there are no plans to move production overseas.
“The economy is what it is. We are inside of what is commonly referred to as the great recession,” which has affected consumer confidence, sales and other aspects of business, Prillaman said.
Sales of adult furniture in particular are down, he said.
“The economy and the housing market affect sales of adult bedroom, dining room and home office” furniture, he said. The adult line is affected “much more than” crib sales.
“We are still making some cribs in Stanleytown,” Prillaman said. That market, he noted “is still going very strongly.”
When the layoffs are complete, Prillaman said more than 750 workers will remain locally, with more than 700 working at the Stanleytown manufacturing center.
Fewer than 50 people work at the company’s warehouse/distribution site in Martinsville, he added.
The company also has a manufacturing site in Robbinsville, N.C., where its Young America line is made, Prillaman said. That location is unaffected by the work force reduction, he added. |
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