Workers Laid Off at Linwood Furniture

October 13, 2008  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Case Goods on October 2008 Linwood Furniture, Lexington, N.C., has been forced to lay off workers in the face of difficult economic and retail conditions, according to a report Monday in the The Dispatch (Lexington, N.C.).

After laying off 12 temporary production positions two weeks ago, seven full-time employees were laid off last week. The case goods manufacturer now has 113 employees.

Bob Shaak, Linwood’s president and CEO told the paper he has never seen the situation so bad in his 37 years in the furniture industry.

“Based on the unprecedented economic and retail environment in which we are in, it was imperative that we scale our manufacturing to reflect the amount of business we are doing in order to remain competitive,” he said in the report. “Our manufacturing needs to be in line with our sales volume.”

Linwood Furniture rejuvenated the former Lexington Home Brands Plant No. 2 when it started case goods production in 2006.

Shaak remained optimistic, though, noting that Linwood now has 165 accounts and 28 sales representatives.

Linwood will introduce two new collections, Louis Philippe and Charlton House, at next weeks October High Point Market. The company shows at 1690 English Rd.