Worker Shirley Smith uses a machine to roll a large spool with yarn Tuesday, June 17, 2014, at a Beaulieu of America factory in Dalton, Ga.Jackson County, Ala., got a shock Tuesday when its second-largest employer, flooring-maker Beaulieu America, told the 390 employees at Beaulieu’s Bridgeport Fibers Plant that all but 15 to 20 of them would be laid off by March 31.
Even an incentive package code-named Project Boss that was delivered Monday to the Dalton, Ga.,- based floormaker by the state of Alabama wasn’t enough to convince Beaulieu America to keep the plant open. Instead, Beaulieu America let its employees know about 16 hours later that it will consolidate its fiber-making operations at a plant it operates in the Dalton, Ga., area.
“It’s a sad day for us,” said Tom Ellis, spokesman for Beaulieu, which is pronounced bol yuh and is a French word meaning “beautiful place.”
Shrinking demand for wall-to-wall carpet in homes is one reason that Beaulieu decided to close the fiber plant that opened in 1987, which is one of the company’s oldest, if not the oldest plant, Ellis said.
“It’s a consumer demand issue that we’re having to face,” he said. “[Carpeting] was 60 percent of the pie in 2006, it’s now about 43 percent of the pie. In the residential [sector], it’s being moved out quicker because of the lower cost of engineered woods and the lower cost of alternatives.”