NC manufacturer abruptly lays off 275 people, and will close its Charlotte stores
Nearly 300 people were laid off in Catawba County after a furniture manufacturer shuttered its doors before the new year. And soon, several furniture stores in Charlotte tied to the company’s parent company will close due to declining sales, tariffs and the housing market.
Kroehler Furniture Co. gave its 275 employees and the state just two days notice that it was closing its plant in Conover, effective Dec. 31. A Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) was filed on Dec. 29 with the North Carolina Department of Commerce.
The manufacturer had called the Conover plant home for over 40 years. The plant is about 50 miles northwest of Charlotte.
The closure is due to a “significant reduction in businesses,” according to the WARN report filed by Kroehler’s owner, American Signature. Kroehler made furniture for American Signature’s Value City Furniture retail stores.
And Kroehler will not be the only facility to close. American Signature also owns American Signature Furniture in addition to Value City Furniture.
In November, American Signature filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy in a Delaware district court in November, according to a news release from the company. With the court’s approval, American Signature will close all 89 of its retail stores.
That includes the three Value City Furniture stores in Charlotte. It’s unclear when those stores will close and how many employees will be impacted.
American Signature did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Kroehler Furniture layoffs in Catawba County
Kroehler has been in operation since the late 1800s. Its first headquarters opened in 1897 in Illinois.
Kroehler opened its facility in Conover in the 1980s and was soon among in the top 100 privately owned companies in the state. It later expanded its Conover facility for over $7 million in the late 1990s.
But furniture manufacturing has been a declining industry in the western Piedmont region. The Kroehler layoffs is the largest in recent years for Conover, according to City Manager Tom Hart.
NC workers received short notice before layoffs
The federal WARN Act requires companies to give 60-day notices for layoffs. But American Signature gave workers at Kroehler a two-day notice.
The company said it had hoped to either secure capital or sell off Kroehler to keep the business afloat, according to the WARN report. American Signature noted that giving advance notice of a possible closure may have impacted its search for both options.
With the sudden news, the city of Conover and the Western Piedmont Workforce Development Board jumped into action. The development board held rapid response sessions to help employees file unemployment claims and provided information on training and scholarship opportunities.
On Jan. 21, the board will hose a job fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at NCWorks Career Center–Catawba. More than 30 local businesses will participate in the fair.
American Signature bankruptcy
American Signature has also been a long-standing furniture retailer, operating for more than 75 years. The retailer had more than 120 stores in 17 states with about 3,000 employees.
But between 2023 and last year, American Signature reported a combined net operating loss of $106 million. With the largest portion of the loss, $70 million, occurring last year.
American Signature cited three issues: declining sales, a slow housing market and new tariff policies implemented by President Donald Trump, according to the bankruptcy filing.
American Signature isn’t the only manufacturer to cite the housing market and tariff costs as reasons for revenue decline.
JELD-WEN, a Charlotte-based door and window manufacturer, announced in November that it would lay off 850 employees across its North American operations. It has 279 employees in the city, but it’s unclear how many employees were impacted.
JELD-WEN saw a 13.4% decrease, or a decrease of $125.2 million, in net revenues, according to its third quarter report. And it estimated that it would see a $45 million annualized impact of tariffs on the business, with about $17 million expected to be seen in this past year’s results.
Charlotte’s Value City Furniture stores closing
Kroehler made furniture for American Signature’s Value City Furniture retail stores. With the bankruptcy, the three Value City stores in Charlotte are expected to close.
It’s unclear when they will close but in the interim, the stores are having Going Out of Business sales, according to a news release. The sales are up to 50% off original prices and may increase as the closing date approaches.
Here are the locations of the stores: 2320 Sardis Road North; 9527 South Blvd.; and 8101 N. University City Blvd.
