ASHEBORO (MCT) — An Asheboro-based manufacturer will close its West Coast operations because of economic difficulties but says the closure shouldn't affect operations here in the Triad.
Klaussner Home Furnishings, with upholstery manufacturing plants in Asheboro and Milford, Iowa, will close its operations in La Mirada, Calif., on Oct. 19, according to company officials.
The company cites poor retail sales and a low demand for domestic upholstery products as reasons for shutting down the California facility. Eighty-four workers will be displaced by the closing.
''While our import upholstery and case goods business on the West Coast continues to grow, demand for our domestic upholstery products produced there just wasn't at an adequate level to operate the facility profitably," said JB Davis, president and CEO of Klaussner. "This move will allow us to reduce our overall production costs, which will enable us to improve our competitiveness."
Mark Walker, director of marketing and advertising for the company, said that the closing of the California facility did not reflect operations at the Asheboro and Iowa facilities and that no work would be consolidated to the remaining plants.
''We've had to look at ways to cut our costs," Walker said. "The closing there has no indication for North Carolina or Iowa at all. It's a different situation here."
The Asheboro facility employs about 1,100 people, according to the Randolph County Economic Development Corp.
Klaussner first began operating in California in May 1984 in a Sun Valley facility. It moved to a larger facility in Mentone, Calif., the next year. Golden Oaks Furniture in La Mirada, Calif., was acquired in 2000, and the Mentone operation was consolidated into the 175,000-square-foot La Mirada facility in 2006.
The company will maintain its sales force on the West Cost to support its import upholstery and case goods business there.
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