WestPoint Stevens Inc., a textile maker operating under bankruptcy protection, Monday said it will lay off 2,465 employees, or 21 percent of its workforce, and close five of its 24 U.S. plants.
The cutbacks relate directly to the recent end of U.S. textile quotas on imports from low-wage countries, the West Point, Georgia-based company said. It said it will source a "significant amount" of production in other countries, and will also move some production to other plants in the United States.
WestPoint, whose bed linens, towels and other products are sold under such brand names as Martex and Utica, said the closings and job cuts should be completed by early April.
"We must be flexible in maintaining the most profitable balance between our domestic manufacturing and goods sourced from overseas," said Chief Executive M.L. "Chip" Fontenot in a statement. "This becomes more critical with quotas removed."
WestPoint said it will close two plants in Clemson, South Carolina, affecting 1,100 workers; its Alamance plant in Burlington, North Carolina, affecting 560 workers; its Drakes Branch plant in Virginia, affecting 450 workers, and its Middletown, Indiana plant, affecting 110 workers. It said it will eliminate 245 additional jobs at another Clemson plant.
The company employs 11,930 people, and all of its plants are located in the United States, spokeswoman Lorraine Miller said.
WestPoint filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors in June 2003. Miller said the company is still in talks with creditors, and hopes to emerge from bankruptcy in the current quarter.
