by ADVANCE, N.C. — Ashley Furniture Industries said it plans to consolidate its furniture manufacturing operations in Statesville, North Carolina into its Advance facility.
Expected to be completed Nov. 15, the move will impact 111 employees in Statesville, according to a WARN Act Notice filed with the North Carolina Department of Commerce. However Ashley said that it will be offering the Statesville employees the opportunity to continue working in Advance, which is about 36 miles northeast of Statesville.
The company purchased the 309,000-square-foot plant from Homestar North America in the summer of 2019. It produced Ready-to-Assemble case goods, a category where Ashley was expanding its presence at the time.
Ashley said the consolidation will provide greater operational efficiencies within its RTA segment.
“When we purchased the pre-existing RTA facility in Statesville, it provided us an entrance into this category,” the company said in a statement to Home News Now. “Throughout the years, we’ve been able to learn, enhance, and better automate the production capabilities for our RTA assortment. By shifting the production to other facilities, we will create more efficiency and better use of existing capacity in our manufacturing network.”
The company said that a majority of the workers have expressed interest in opportunities in Advance and that there are a sufficient amount of open positions there for the Statesville employees interested in pursuing these opportunities.
