by Company is moving manufacturing, administration and distribution to 200,000-square-foot former United Furniture plant during 2nd and 3rd quarters
TRINITY, N.C. — Luxury furniture manufacturer Theodore Alexander has purchased a former 200,000-square-foot United Furniture Industries plant here that will serve as the centralized location of its U.S. headquarters, manufacturing and distribution.
The company purchased the facility for $7.2 million in late February and plans to move into the building during the second and third quarters.
Sitting on about 55 acres at 3761 OId Glenola Road, roughly 45,000 square feet of the building will be for manufacturing, which is about the same size as its current plant in Thomasville. About 10,000 square feet will be for its executive and administrative offices, currently located in the same building as the company’s showroom at 229 W. Russell Ave. in High Point. The showroom will remain at its current location.
The rest will be warehouse and distribution, consolidating distribution the company currently has in leased operations in Greensboro and Thomasville. The size and layout of its future home will allow the company to increase/adjust the size of its manufacturing/distribution footprint as needed.
“Having everything under one roof will create better synergies, working together as a company and better servicing our customers,” said Ed Teplitz, president of Theodore Alexander USA, adding that having the distribution under one roof also will allow it to ship both case goods and upholstery together. “We are racking the facility and it will give us the ability to have all of our warehousing in one location and grow our inventory as our business continues to grow.”
Without revealing specific figures, Teplitz said that the business has grown over the past two years, making the move timely as it seeks continued growth in both its domestic upholstery and imported case goods segments.
But he also noted that having its administrative offices for the executive team, plus its accounting, logistics, marketing and merchandising, along with its manufacturing and distribution — in one building as opposed to several locations — will improve communications and overall operations for the company and its customers alike, including customer service.
Initially, Teplitz said, the company was looking for a warehouse. Instead it found this larger facility that could serve many areas of the business.
“We saw the opportunity to move everything together for better synergies and to better service our clients,” he said, adding, “This also gives us the ability to expand. We are focused on growing our business.”
Teplitz said that the company is now making necessary renovations and upgrades to the building. It anticipates moving into the warehouse first, sometime during the second quarter, and anticipates moving the rest of its operations into the facility during the third quarter.
