390 to lose jobs at Broyhill’s last wooden furniture plant in U.S.
Broyhill Furniture Industries announced Friday it will close its last U.S. wooden furniture factory, ending a century of tradition in the foothills of Western North Carolina.
Most of the 390 employees at the plant in Lenoir will lose their jobs by February, though a few will remain in the shipping and maintenance departments until April.
Broyhill, one of the most popular brands of furniture in the country, built its reputation on the wooden bedroom sets and living room pieces that still fill American homes.
But after the closing, all of its wood products will be made overseas. The company will continue to operate two domestic plants, both upholstery operations, in Caldwell and Alexander counties.
Friday’s move was the latest blow to N.C. furniture manufacturing, a traditional economic pillar that has shed 25,000 jobs since 2000. Industry employment has fallen to about 53,000 today, according to the N.C. Employment Security Commission.
Today’s Broyhill company has its roots in 1905, when Wilkes County native Thomas Broyhill became part owner of a furniture factory that became known as Lenoir Furniture Corporation.
That historic name lived on under the Broyhill umbrella, and as the official name of the plant being closed. Employees and the community simply called the factory “Corporation.”
A news release issued Friday referred questions to Scott Reid, Broyhill’s chief marketing officer, whose secretary said he was out of the office and unavailable for comment. Other officials were also unavailable, she said.
The plant sits on College Avenue Southwest in a neighborhood of small homes and already-shuttered furniture factories southwest of downtown.
It made Broyhill’s best-selling product line, Attic Heirlooms, but in the end, that couldn’t save it: Wooden furniture can now be made much more cheaply in Asia, where Broyhill’s parent company, St. Louis-based Furniture Brands International, has been rapidly shifting production during the past five years.
“The increasingly global manufacturing environment has changed the way furniture is produced and bought by consumers in today’s marketplace,” Reid said in the release.
“Broyhill’s `Corporation’ facility has some of the finest, most loyal and hardest-working employees in the country,” he said. “It is sad to see our dedicated colleagues affected by these industry changes that dictate how we do business.”
The closing didn’t seem to surprise anybody in town — least of all plant employees, who had long waited for the ax to drop.
“It’s about time,” said Terri Wilkie of Hickory, who has worked for Broyhill nearly 10 years. “I’m not saying it’s not a bad thing, but it’s a relief. Now people know what to plan for.”
Wilkie said she and many of her co-workers hope to go back to school. But others, especially older employees, were left wondering where — and how — to find new work at this point in life.
“It kindly hurts to be almost 59 years old and be out trying to find a job, but I know God will provide,” said Lenoir resident Betty Hartley, 58, a 15-year employee who has spent her adult life in furniture.
As recently as 2000, more than 9,300 people worked in furniture in Caldwell County, according to the Employment Security Commission. That has declined to about 4,000 and continues to fall.
Caldwell County’s October unemployment rate, meanwhile, stood at 7.5 percent, fourth highest in the state.
Friday’s announcement may also jeopardize Lenoir-based Broyhill’s status as Caldwell’s largest employer: After the plant closes, Broyhill will employ about 1,500 in the Caldwell County area, down from more than 7,000 in the late 1990s.
