— Furniture Today,
Roanoke plant employs 275 people
MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Hooker Furniture has announced it will close its plant in Roanoke, Va., one of its two remaining case goods plants, by the end of August.

The 265,000-square-foot plant employs 275 people, about 20% of Hooker’s work force, and produces home office and home entertainment furniture.

Production will be shifted to the company’s remaining plant, a 760,000-square-foot complex next to the company headquarters here.

Hooker also has two upholstered furniture plants, two supply plants, a distribution center and several warehouses in Virginia and North Carolina, with a total of 2.6 million square feet.

Paul Toms Jr., Hooker’s chairman and CEO, praised the Roanoke employees.

“The closure of the plant is no reflection on them,” he said. “Rather, it is dictated by the consumer’s demand for value, a demand currently best being met by imported products largely due to their lower production costs.”

Demand for Hooker’s imported wood and metal furniture has been increasing, the company said.

“While we believe our growth in wood furniture going forward primarily will be from our imported lines, we think there will continue to be opportunities to be competitive in certain domestically manufactured product niches,” Toms said. “We do not intend to exit domestic furniture manufacturing.”

The company said it expects to record asset impairment charges of $4.5 million to $5 million — $2.8 million to $3.1 million after tax, or 23 cents to 26 cents per share — to write down assets at the Roanoke facility and for expenses including severance benefits. By closing the plant, Hooker expects to reduce its fixed operating expenses by $2 million to $2.5 million a year.