Posted on 04/02/2014 10:17:02 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
HIGH POINT, NC - Stanley Furniture Company, Inc. today reported it will cease domestic furniture production in the factory that supports its Young America brand.
“We have a healthy Stanley business that is making money. It is supported by a wonderful heritage, strong product in the field and future pipeline, and we are looking forward to the prospects of focusing our team solely on the growth and profitability of this brand in the short-term”
“We have decided to cease manufacturing operations in Robbinsville,” said Glenn Prillaman, President and Chief Executive Officer. “After a thorough review of both our own operations and the current marketplace for nursery and youth furniture, management and the Board concluded that the Young America business could not achieve an acceptable level of revenue within an adequate time frame to assure sustainable profitability and has decided that it is time for our company to focus its efforts on our profitable and growing Stanley brand,” continued Prillaman.
The company will honor all orders for Young America products placed on our before April 28, 2014. “What is important now is that we exit our domestic operation in a way that minimizes the impact on our retail customers, and that we do all we can to help our approximately 400 associates in Robbinsville with this difficult change for them and their families. Additionally, we have retained services to assist in maximizing value from assets related to the Young America brand,” commented Prillaman.
Orders for the company’s Stanley brand were up double digits in the first quarter, even with the weather-related challenges that plagued retailers across the country. “We have a healthy Stanley business that is making money. It is supported by a wonderful heritage, strong product in the field and future pipeline, and we are looking forward to the prospects of focusing our team solely on the growth and profitability of this brand in the short-term,” concluded Prillaman.
The company ended its first quarter with approximately $16.7 million in cash and remains debt free. The results of the first quarter and impact of the restructuring will be discussed in detail on the upcoming conference call.
First Quarter 2014 Results
To allow for sufficient evaluation of restructuring charges, the company will delay its release of first quarter results until after market closes on April 30, 2014 and will hold its conference call on the following morning at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time. The Annual Shareholder’s Meeting remains scheduled for April 17, 2014.
About the Company
Established in 1924, Stanley Furniture Company, Inc. is a leading designer and manufacturer of wood furniture targeted at the premium segment of the residential market. Its Stanley Furniture brand is supported by an overseas sourcing model and is distributed throughout the upscale market competing through superior product design, finish, styling and piece assortment. The company’s common stock is traded on the NASDAQ stock market under the symbol STLY.
A good read, thanks for that.
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I retrieved this data from here:
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http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-states/imports
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The United States is the world’s largest importer.
Imports in the United States for February 2014 were valued at $232,734,000,000.
U.S. main imports are:
Industrial Supplies, including crude oil (32 percent of total imports);
Capital Goods (24 percent);
Automotive vehicles, parts, and engines (13 percent);
Consumer Goods (12 percent);
Foods, Feeds, and Beverages (5 percent).
Main imports partners are:
China (18 percent of total imports);
European Union (16 percent);
Canada (14 percent);
Mexico (12 percent);
Japan (6 percent).
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I’m not sure how they define “capital goods”.
What’s 1% of 200 trillion? (2 billion)
You sound like a good little communist.
A significant problem is the social costs placed on the rest of society when these factories close. Given that we as a society have chosen to end the laissez faire attitude of the 19th century when unemployed or injured workers were left to their own devices, today when a factory closes social benefits (unemployment insurance, welfare, retraining) are bestowed on the jobless. Those benefits are paid to the jobless by taking income from those with jobs through the tax system.
In addition, when towns are decimated by industry disappearing, high rates of unemployment typically result in drug use and crime. Again, those still working are taxed to pay rising costs for law enforcement, incarceration, legal aid, and drug rehabilitation. These are real costs to the economy which the firm who lays off the workers and departs the community does not incur.
Labor competition has always existed on a global basis. In the 19th century the new American nation had the choice of allowing open markets or creating a closed market. The founders and their successors chose to define free trade as the freedom for any US citizen to trade with any firm or nation. It did not mean open access for foreign nations and foreign firms to the US market. They early leaders understood that the immature US economy could not compete with European manufacturers. They also understood that if the US market were open with low tariffs, European manufacturers would flood the US market with their surplus production but would not invest in building factories in the US. As a result the young nation placed high tariffs on imports of manufactured goods. These high tariffs resulted in European investment in factories located in the US to avoid the high import tariffs.
Note that at the time wages in the US and Europe were not significantly different so while high tariffs protected US industry the tariffs were not intended to provide higher wages to US workers. In fact, during that time immigration policy was very loose for the express purpose of attracting immigrants to fill up the western lands as well as ensure a sufficient labor supply to keep wages down.
The US has both the population size and natural resources to have a self contained market. For a long period of our history we were primarily self sufficient and we can become self sufficient again if we resume a high tariff trade policy.
Nothing he posted was the least bit “communistic”. The company is very profitable, but the CEO decided he wants it to be even more profitable. So he moves production offshore. Maybe thats a good short term decision, but its a very bad long term decision.
Condemning the “rich” while defending the worker and their altruistic goals is most certainly communist lingo.
What else is a company supposed to do considering the taxes, regulations, and poor economy in America. His job is to keep the company profitable. In many other cases those companies are owned and run by foreigners who most certainly do not hold America as their priority.
Yes it sucks that all of our jobs are going overseas. Perhaps we should push back on taxes, OSHA, EPA, FTC, FDA, and every other out of control govt jobs program. That might make it easier and more profitable for those companies to stay here.
We don’t want a self contained Market
We want global market to sell In to
You are wrong. And couldn’t be more wrong. How is “defending the worker” communist lingo? Communism is about (among other things) state control of industry. We are talking about nothing of the sort. Lots of CEO’s have gone for more short term profits and ultimately ended up destroying their companies.
Henry Ford is a great example. He RAISED wages. Voluntarily. To outrageous levels by the standard of the day. And as a result, his employees were more loyal, AND able to buy the product they were making. It was good for business.
IF you think that pursuit of short term profits should be the CEO’s only goal, then clearly you know little about business.
Moving to China sounds like a good idea until they start a war. Then kiss the company goodbye.
So your solution is to raise prices for all Americans (aka, inflation) during an economic downturn, all for a vague goal of "more manufacturing" when we are still #2 in the world in manufacturing? Sorry, that would be a very poor idea. We already have WAY too many programs that essentially boil down to "have all Americans pay some more so that a few people can have XYZ". We don't need more.
(Our overlords are also doing EVERYTHING they can do keep inflation at an absolute minimum, because they know that if interest rates go up just a 2-3 points, there will be massive repercussions worldwide. The hyper-debt that Japan and the US have been living on for the past 6 years will hit both like a ton of bricks... and without anyone large enough to bail us out (Germany is barely big enough to bail out tiny Greece), it will spiral quickly. Inflation is their greatest and realest fear right now... and not just for their phoney-baloney jobs, either.)
Henry Ford is NOT a great example. His company did NOT succeed because of higher wages. It succeeded because he revolutionized the manufacturing process, had massive sames as a result of making the automobile affordable for all, and therefore could afford to pay more in wages. Correlation does not equal causation.
(However, even if you want to persist in the old argument that paying more makes happier workers which will make them work harder... you are talking about an American culture that does not exist anymore. Those who are under 35 are MORE than happy to get paid more and more for doing less and less. Pride in a wage well-earned is a notion of the past. The few who still believe in it are rare and precious gems in the labor market today.)
(massive sales, not sames)
What union?
The mere existence of unions in these United States has a chilling effect on corporations. Until all unions are abolished, profitability is unsustainable. The unions thugs have been granted a free pass by zero and his criminal organization. Company owners are being squeezed by regulations imposed by unions even if a particular factory doesn’t have those goons in its workforce.
I have been a union member -- because when living in Pennsylvania, one has no choice in the matter. But I ultimately won by busting the evil union and their gang of lowlife goons.
Among the top three moments of my long life (70+ years) are when I led a successful rebellion to oust a private sector union in the Big Labor stronghold of Western Pennsylvania more than 30 years ago.
After the election, when the union left our company, profits improved and management was able to rightsize the staff. The adversarial relationship between we workers and the bosses vanished. Additionally, the burdensome work regulations that actually were detrimental to the employees were eliminated. For example, the turnaround time rule was tossed, allowing those of us who desired to work additional hours with some nice paychecks.
The deadwood was eliminated. Over a period of months, just about all of those who voted in favor of unionism during the decertification election were fired. I'll confess to taking real glee when a 25-year vet of the company was dismissed. He was a bad seed from the get-to, a featherbedder who thought tenure and seniority were his protection. When I engaged in the action to bust the union, this hateful creep uttered these words: "I was here when you got here and I'll be here when you leave". The Na-Na-Hey-Hey-Goodbye song was popular around that time and we who were loyal to the American spirit of free enterprise gave that union goon a serenade as he slinked out the door for good. This guy and his fellow unionistas were real communist sympathizers since they favored collectivism.
*snorts*
In the event of another World war, the US, led by our current crop of politicians, would either use it to seize complete power, then declare us neutral, or wave the white flag to the first enemy soldier who set foot on our shores. You honestly believe people who daily spout off about how evil we are and how we’re responsible for all the ill of the world are going to go to war to defend the US?
But where did the story say that the Stanley furniture workers were unionized? This is North Carolina after all.
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