WestPoint Stevens ContinuesWith Restructuring PlanWestPoint Stevens Inc., West Point, Ga., will
close its Whitmire Plant in Whitmire, S.C. The plant produces yarn for the companys greige sheeting
plants. The projected closing date is May 1, and preparations for the shutdown are underway. Some
292 associates will be affected.Machinery from the plant will be relocated to other WestPoint
Stevens manufacturing units where yarn is produced on-site with weaving operations. The amount of
yarn produced internally will not be reduced by the shutdown.The company has also announced layoffs
at its Rosemary Finishing and Fabricating plants, as well as the Rosemary Distribution Center, all
located in Roanoke Rapids, N.C. These layoffs come shortly after the shutdown of the Rosemary
Greige Plant.These facilities are being impacted by a company-wide strategy to reduce and control
inventory. And, with the closing of Rosemary Greige Plant, which produced a large portion of goods
to be finished, fabricated and distributed from the other three units, there is simply not as much
processing and handling at Roanoke Rapids as before, said Lanny L. Bledsoe, senior vice president,
manufacturing.
April 2001
