(Updated June 7, 3:30 pm)
Local company to expand into former Broyhill No. 5 plant;
to add approximately 100 jobs in near future
The president of a local furniture manufacturer announced the company's intention to expand into an existing facility that has a long past in the manufacturing trade.
Craftmaster Furniture has
acquired a former Broyhill upholstery factory in Taylorsville, last week, said President/CEO Roy Calcagne, in a press release. The
212,000 square foot facility was the former Plant 5 for Broyhill and once
employed 375 people. The facility was sold to Vanguard Properties in 2009 and
most recently housed Caye Furniture which went out of business in 2011. The plant has sat idle since then.
The
purchase was announced by Roy Calcagne, President/CEO of the Craftmaster
Furniture. “We are pleased to have acquired this new facility for Craftmaster;
it will increase our production capacity by 35%. We have been fortunate to have
had significant growth over the past several years and we are near capacity
with our two existing factory’s here in Alexander County”, said Calcagne. “Our
plans are to renovate the facility from top to bottom and establish several manufacturing
lines by the end of the year”, added Calcagne
This
acquisition will also allow Craftmaster to relocate its current warehouse
program from a leased building to the new company facility and expand the warehousing
capacity by 60% from 50,000 sq. ft. to 80,000. “We house two significant
programs in the outside warehouse currently, the Quick Ship upholstery program
and our Encore imported leather product line. Both have been very successful
and have grown significantly since their introductions. The additional capacity
will allow us to add new styles as needed” said Calcagne.
The
expansion at Craftmaster will add many new jobs in Alexander County over the
next several years. “Alexander County has been especially hard hit by the down
turn in the economy over the past f few years. Craftmaster has grown from 400
employees to over 500 today due to the growth we have experienced since Samson
Holdings purchased the company in 2006. This new facility will add up to 100 jobs over
the next few years as the demand for our products continue to grow and with the
introduction of a new product category coming this October market,” said Roy
Calcagne, in the press release.
“I
am proud of the fact that we continue to grow our domestic production and that
we are creating jobs in a County that desperately needs them. We have a very
dedicated work force that builds a great product and is made in the U.S.A.”
added Calcagne
Craftmaster Furniture was
founded in 1972 in Taylorsville, N.C. and is made in the U.S.A. and specializes
in moderate priced custom order upholstery produced in the U.S.A. With over 150
living room styles, 100 accents chairs and over 1000 fabrics to choose from. In
addition, Craftmaster produces the Paula Deen Home Collection and the Better
Homes & Garden branded upholstered products. Craftmaster is a subsidiary of
Samson Holdings along with the case goods companies of Universal Furniture and
Legacy Classic Furniture.