Ameriwood resuming RTA production in Michigan

Rising demand creates need for more capacity

Staff Staff -- Furniture Today, August 20, 2008

DOWAGIAC, Mich. - Ameriwood, the ready-to-assemble furniture division of Dorel Inds., is resuming operations at a plant here that had been mothballed for a year.

Dorel officials said they will reopen a production line at the Michigan plant to meet demand for its RTA product. As many as 100 manufacturing jobs could be created over time at the plant, where operations were suspended in July 2007.

Despite the furniture industry's softness, Dorel's RTA sales have been up this year, the company said. The Montreal-based manufacturer said sales in its home furnishings segment in the second quarter were up 17.2% from a year earlier to $110.5 million. Earnings from operations in the segment were $3.9 million, compared with a loss of $6.3 million a year ago.

For the first half, segment sales were $212.8 million, up 7.6% from 2007, while earnings from operations were $5.5 million, a turnaround from last year's first-half loss of $6.3 million.

Rising demand has allowed the RTA segment's two main North American factories to run more efficiently and has created the need for additional capacity at Dowagiac, the company said.