Ethan Allen Sets Expansion for Upholstery in Mexico

September 30, 2015  by in Business Strategy, Industry, Product, Upholstery   

The company expects to break ground on the facility in Guanajuato, Mexico, adjacent to its current 260,000-square-foot factory in the next 45 days. Production in the $15 million facility should be underway within the next 18 to 24 months.

"We are pleased to continue to develop a strong manufacturing capacity to grow and service our business,” said Farooq Kathwari, chairman and CEO. “Our goal is to maintain strong upholstery manufacturing in North America, which we believe is a long-term competitive advantage that will allow us to advance our objectives of maintaining short order times and improving capacity to ship custom items more quickly.   We are pleased to continue to strengthen our vertically integrated structure from concept of idea, to engineering, to manufacturing, to retail and logistics. 

The company has continued to invest in its upholstery plants in Maiden, N.C., that now total 600,000-square feet.

“In the past two years we have invested $5 million in adding technology and other improvements to these facilities,” Kathwari said. “Our Mexico operation manufactures fully upholstered products for our North American market as well as our international markets including China and also provides most of the cut and sewn covers for the Maiden, N.C. operations. Our 1,500 interior design associates and 300 design centers provide a strong competitive base to grow and service our business."