Stanley Furniture to consolidate N.C. operations

Stanley Furniture Co. said Tuesday that it will consolidate two of its North Carolina facilities as part of its cost-cutting efforts.

About 350 jobs at the Lexington facility will be eliminated over the next two to three months, Stanley said. Operations from that plant will be consolidated in Robbinsville.

The company said it plans to retain a warehousing facility with about 20 workers at a separate location in Lexington.

"Historically low levels of consumer confidence, housing activity and personal disposable income has led to an industrywide weakness in consumer demand for residential furniture not seen since the early '80s," Stanley Furniture President and Chief Executive Jeffrey R. Scheffer said in a statement.

Stanley said it also is eliminating two executive positions _ vice president of purchasing and vice president of human resources. Additionally, the company is offering early retirement packages for qualified salaried employees.

Stanley said it expects the consolidation to be finished by the end of the year and result in pretax restructuring and impairment charges of $6 million to $8 million in the second half of 2008.

Once the transition is completed, Stanley said it expects to realize annual pretax savings of $5 million to $6 million from the manufacturing consolidation.

Stanley shares fell 77 cents, or 7.9 percent, to close at $9. The stock, which earlier set a 52-week low of $8.65, has ranged from $9.30 to $22.25 over the past year.