ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, October 12, 1996 TAG: 9610140044
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MEGAN SCHNABEL STAFF WRITER
Singer Furniture Co., which this summer closed its Roanoke furniture manufacturing plant, said Friday it will move its remaining administrative offices by the end of the year.
The offices - which include customer service, general accounting, credit and accounts receivable - employ 46 people, said William Foster, vice president of administration. The jobs will be moved to Singer's offices in High Point, N.C. Six or seven computer-related jobs will remain in Roanoke through late spring.
The employees, who are all salaried, were told of the decision late Friday. They have been given the option of transfering to North Carolina, Foster said, but he doesn't think many will choose to leave Roanoke.
"We have a vast number of long-term employees," he said. He estimated that two-thirds of the administrative staff have worked for Singer in Roanoke 15 years or longer. Those who do not relocate will receive severance packages and whatever unused vacation they have accumulated, he said.
Foster, who has lived in Roanoke 20 years, was offered a new position in North Carolina but declined.
The decision to move the offices to High Point was based on economics, Foster said. Singer, facing declining demand for furniture, has been attempting to streamline its operations and cut costs. The company this year laid off 290 workers in Roanoke and another 200 at its Lenoir, N.C., manufacturing complex. The Singer plants in Lenoir and Chocowinity, N.C., had been operating at less than 40-hour work weeks.
Singer had manufactured case goods in Roanoke since 1969, when the Singer Co. bought Johnson-Carper Furniture Co. and changed its name. Roanoke was the company's headquarters until 1994, when then-president Dennis Ammons moved to High Point. As late as a year ago, Singer Furniture employed 500 people at its Roanoke plant.
The company is still negotiating to sell its Roanoke plant, Foster said.
The Singer Corp., the sewing machine and home appliance company that is Singer Furniture's parent, is owned by Semi-Tech Global Co. Ltd. of Hong Kong, which has operations in more than 100 countries and annual sales of $1.27 billion.
LENGTH: Short : 48 lines KEYWORDS: JOBCHEKby CNB