
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, February 1, 1991                   TAG: 9102010277
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

SARA LEE TO CLOSE STUART PLANT

Sara Lee Knit Products, formerly Pannill Knitting Co. of Martinsville, will close its Stuart sweat-shirt plant and transfer the 225 employees to other operations by March 15. Workers will be offered jobs at Sara Lee plants in Martinsville, Hillsville or Winston-Salem, N.C., human resources vice president J.A. "Sonny" Dykes said Thursday.

The shutdown will give the company more efficient operations, he said. The Stuart plant, operated by the company since 1959, is not suitable for expansion, the company said.

Dykes said Sara Lee is consolidating the work of 200 employees on a second shift with the first shift at its Gretna plant to provide a more cost-efficient operation. He said the Martinsville plants of Sara Lee will be closed for the last week of February as a result of continuing slow demand for sweat-suit products. - Staff report

by CNB