Braxton Culler acquires Kensington's Caraway facility for $3.5M, plans move
By Gary Evans -- Furniture Today, January 14, 2002
SOPHIA, N.C. — Defunct Kensington Furniture has sold its three-plant Caraway manufacturing facility here to upholstery maker Braxton Culler, which bought it through a bankruptcy auction for $3.5 million.
Jim Ruane of PriceWaterhouseCoopers, which is overseeing the shutdown of Mississippi-based Kensington, said the sale includes the three plants totaling 348,726 square feet on a 40-acre site.
R. Braxton Culler III, president and owner, said the company will relocate its current High Point offices, production facilities and warehouses to the Sophia location.
"Moving our company gives us the opportunity to consolidate much of our current manufacturing," Culler said. "At the same time, we will have the ability to accommodate growth."
Braxton Culler opened in 1975, and occupies more than 250,000 square feet in several facilities. Renovation and modifications to the Caraway facility will begin in early spring, and Culler said the company expects to move by mid-July. Initially, 175 to 200 people will be employed.
The company's line has grown from upholstered furniture to include wicker and rattan collections, occasional tables, dining groups, armoires and etageres.
The sale drew interest from four prospective buyers, and follows the earlier sale of Kensington's Houlka, Miss., facilities to Gerald Washington, president of American Furniture Co.
That leaves the fully equipped facility at Manachie, Miss., which Ruane said could be in put in operation by a buyer within weeks.
Ruane said he was talking to three potential buyers about that site.
Kensington ran into financial trouble and shut down abruptly last summer.
