Share this on
Dorel to close Ameriwood RTA plant
Staff -- Kids Today, 9/20/2005 12:00:00 AM
|
MONTREAL -- Dorel Inds. will close its Ameriwood ready-to-assemble furniture plant in Wright City, Mo., by Dec. 31 as part of a plan to improve earnings in its home furnishings segment. Most production will be shifted to Dorel's other RTA factories in Dowagiac, Mich.; Tiffin, Ohio; and Cornwall, Ontario. About 300 Wright City employees will be affected. Dorel President and CEO Martin Schwartz said Dorel is undertaking a "significant consolidation" at its Ameriwood Inds. division, including a strategy that realigns marketing into four distinct groups, each of which will focus on new designs and materials aimed at aggressively growing its customer base. While Dorel has seen better-than-average growth in its home furnishings division, nearly all of it is attributed to Dorel Asia, its relatively new import division. "Although we remain confident that there will be sustained demand for domestically manufactured RTA furniture, we have concluded that our manufacturing footprint exceeded anticipated market needs," Schwartz said. "A combination of North American production with imported components will ensure the long-term viability of our domestic operations. "This is in line with a strategic shift away from exclusive domestic production," he continued. "Ameriwood's new tri-continental supply chain now includes North America as well as sourcing initiatives from South America and Asia." The closure of the Wright City plant will result in a pretax charge of about $11 million, most of which will be recorded in 2005. Of that, about $8 million will be a non-cash charge representing the write-down of building, equipment and other assets. Beginning in 2006, the company anticipates savings of about $6 million annually. In 2005's first half, consumer and juvenile products giant Dorel's home furnishings segment posted sales of $277.3 million, an increase of 9.3% over the previous year's comparable period, with earnings of $17 million, an increase of 12%. |
Share this on
Talkback
We would love your feedback!
-
Dorel sales, net income up in 2Q
Aug 6, 2010 -
Dorel earnings down 11.1% as sales fall 4.4%
May 10, 2006 -
Dorel sees modest gains in first half
Aug 3, 2007 -
Dorel sales rise 25% in third quarter
Nov 17, 2008
Sponsored Links
Featured Company
-
Wright Labels
Bill and Tom Wright founded Wright of Thomasville in 1961 on the idea that printing was a creative medium and the belief that "a promise made is a promise kept." The Wright brothers focused their attention on providing exceptional printing for the... more
