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TUPELO • One of the largest furniture employers in the state, United Furniture Industries Inc., is laying off about 300 workers in Mississippi and North Carolina.

United, which is privately held and operates under the Lane Home Furnishings brand, said that in the next two months it will close one production facility and transform two others exclusively for use as warehouse and distribution center space.

Lane will switch the manufacturing facility in Amory to warehouse only, while it will close its metal stamping plant in High Point, North Carolina, and transition its Winston-Salem, North Carolina, operation to an east coast distribution center.

“We hate this situation happened but we understand today’s economy. We don’t like it and are going to try to combat it by bringing in different jobs. We’re going to continue to define employment and bring it in, which is our goal to support taxpayers,” said Amory Mayor Corey Glenn. “Our sympathies go out to the employees involved and the loss of jobs, and we’re going to do our best to bring equivalent to better paying jobs.”

“We were saddened to hear of the United Furniture facility closure in Amory. United is our largest employer in Monroe County, and we hope that this is just a depiction of the economy and market change. We have offered to assist them via the community college with retraining employees from that facility to help them transition into other employment opportunities. Our main goal is to increase and maintain jobs because we love our community and anytime there are jobs lost, it feels like a gut punch,” said Monroe County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Chelsea Baulch.

The company employs more than 3,000 workers at 18 plants, offices and distribution centers in California, Mississippi and North Carolina in the U.S. and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. After the changes, the company expects to employ just over 2,700 at its 17 operations in the United States.

“The decisions to make these changes did not come lightly, and where it was possible, we have taken specific steps to transition affected employees to available jobs in other locations,” said UFI Chief Executive Officer Todd Evans. “Our industry is experiencing a drastic decrease in consumer demand. Our inventory levels remain high and new orders from our customers remain slow.

“Our team is committed to the long-term success of our company. That commitment requires right-sizing at the present time. We are confident that the product, sales, and operational plans that we have established will provide for a successful future.’’

Affected employees will be guided through the transition with information about outplacement assistance and other support services including unemployment and insurance continuation.

The announcement comes a week after Southern Furniture Industries in Pontotoc said it would be laying off about 280 employees.

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Dennis covers business and economic development for the Daily Journal.

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