North Carolina furniture manufacturing plant opens again after hundreds of layoffs

TAYLORSVILLE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — One year after Alexander County’s largest private employer closed its doors and laid off hundreds of employees, the company is back in business.

Last summer, Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams closed three of its furniture manufacturing facilities in Hiddenite, Statesville, and Taylorsville. Reports posted by the North Carolina Department of Commerce showed the majority of the 533 laid-off workers are from the Taylorsville facility.

“We all have lived here. We all know people, and so it really shocked everybody,” Taylorsville resident Becky Smith told Queen City News at the time of the closings.

Days and weeks after the announcement last September, hiring signs lined the entrance to the Taylorsville Mitchell Gold plant. Other companies were looking to recruit workers who lost their jobs.

“It was a transition for everyone,” said Connie Kincaid, Alexander County Economic Development Corporation’s business development manager.

One year later, many of those same employees are back to reclaim their positions.

Just months after the layoffs, Surya, a Georgia-based manufacturer acquired Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams with plans to re-launch the company .

Since then, the 1 million-square-foot facility off of One Comfortable Way has slowly been modernized.

“We are thrilled that Surya has come in and bought Mitchell Gold and is now looking to put employees in there again and begin the manufacturing of furniture because Mitchell Gold is a very exclusive product,” Kincaid said.

Darryl Webster, Mitchell Gold’s chief operating officer, told Queen City News the goal is to re-capture the culture of the company that has been around since the 1980s.

So, far Webster says 75 people have applied to work at the plant, the majority of which are former employees.

As of Monday, 38 positions out of the 50 available have been filled.  Webster says eventually, they hope to expand.

“We are thrilled to have them in Alexander County,” Kincaid said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX8 WGHP.