Stanley adds crib lines here
By DEBBIE HALL - Bulletin Staff Writer. The first cribs in the Stanley Furniture Co. Young America line to be made in Stanleytown were produced this week.
“This is phase one of the production,” Steve Bullock, executive vice president of operations, said Tuesday.
Stanley announced Sept. 14 that it was moving some Young America production to Stanleytown as part of its commitment to produce the entire line in this country. Previously, 70 percent of the line was made in Robbinsville, N.C., and the rest was imported or bought from other U.S. vendors.
It planned to add a total of 99 employees at the Stanleytown plant, and reopened an area of the plant for the crib and youth bed production, Bullock said Tuesday during a tour of the facility.
“This is only the start-up” of the operation, he said.
About 75 of the 99 new employees have been hired, said Charles Cooley, production manager.
“Turn out has been great. We’ve had plenty of applicants,” he said.
Stanley also has invested $1.3 million in equipment for the new production, Bullock said. As it is being delivered, “we’re putting things in place.”
By November when the equipment is installed and the plant is certified by the Green Guard Environmental Institute for meeting rigorous chemical emissions standards, Bullock said finishing will be completed in Stanleytown.
The company began cutting the line last week. By Monday, new cribs were assembled and packaged, Bullock said.
By the end of the week, the first shipment of cribs will be ready to ship to the company’s plant in Robbinsville for finishing, he said.
About 80 percent of the cribs will be pre-finished and shipped to retailers, Bullock said. The type of finish selected depends on sales projections of “common colors,” such as white, he said.
The remaining 20 percent will be custom finished according to customer’s wishes, he said. There are more than 60 finishes to choose from.
“You name it, we’ve got it,” said Cooley of the rainbow of colors available. “Everything from tangerine to sky blue” and most hues in between is available.
The cribs differ from many models in several ways. For one, there is no adjustable side.
Bullock said that style crib was dropped from the company’s line when it moved the production to Stanleytown due to safety concerns with all models that had an adjustable side.
The cribs and youth beds produced locally are designed to fit into “the environment a child lives in,” according to Doug Bohlinger, superintendent.
The platform — basically the bottom of the crib, which holds the mattress — is adjustable, he said.
The cribs also can be reconfigured to accommodate growing youngsters, Bohlinger said. The basic five components — headboard (one side), footboard (a second side), two ends and platform — can be reconfigured to make a daybed or a twin bed as the child grows.
Youth “slat beds” also are being made in Stanleytown, Cooley said. “It’s more of the production we’re bringing back from overseas.”
Stanley has made a commitment that children’s furniture shipped after Nov. 16 will be domestically manufactured, company officials have said.
Employees and applicants alike often comment the decision to “bring jobs back to the United States and our commitment to domestic manufacturing says a lot about the company,” Bohlinger said.
