Vaughan-Bassett to close S.C. plant
By Powell Slaughter -- Furniture Today, July 19, 2004
Galax, Va. — Case goods manufacturer Vaughan-Bassett will close its 800,000-square-foot bedroom plant in Sumter, S.C., by the end of summer, laying off 350 employees, or 21% of the company's work force.
Vaughan-Bassett blamed Chinese imports for the closure. Workers at the plant have been given 60-days notice, and the product lines made in Sumter will move to the company's plants in Galax and Elkin, N.C.
While U.S. manufacturers long have blamed Asian competition for plant closings, Vaughan-Bassett cited the U.S. Department of Commerce's preliminary ruling that Chinese producers are dumping wood bedroom furniture, making this the first such announcement to charge that jobs were lost because of illegal activity.
"We are disappointed that competition from illegally dumped bedroom furniture imported from China has forced us to close the Sumter division, and we will do everything possible to help those employees losing their jobs," said John Bassett, president and CEO, and a leader in the antidumping petition effort.
Dealers should expect no change in service, since Vaughan-Bassett won't drop the product made in Sumter, said Wyatt Bassett, executive vice president. "That plant's product and volume will go toward fully utilizing our Galax and Elkin plants," he said.
He declined to speculate whether higher preliminary duties for Chinese factories would have kept the plant open. Under the DOC's ruling, about 80% of Chinese wood bedroom imports face U.S. duties averaging 10.92%.
"I hate to deal in hypotheticals. We held out at that plant for a long time in terms of trying to get enough utilization to keep it open," Wyatt Bassett said. "Our problem in Sumter is a volume issue. Volume and market share have been shifting to Chinese imports for a long time, and now we can call them dumped imports."
Vaughan-Bassett acquired the Sumter plant, formerly Williams Furniture, in 1986. Starting around 2000, Vaughan-Bassett converted the factory from production of print bedroom to wood product. Upgrades included dry kilns, lumber stackers and new woodcutting equipment.
