Parkdale Mills has announced it will be closing the doors on the Rockford plant it purchased from Avondale Mills more than a year ago.John Nims, spokesman for Parkdale Mills, said the date for the official shutdown is scheduled for Jan. 13, and about 80 jobs will be impacted by the close.
“The cost to produce yarn in Rockford is higher than most places,” Nims said. “We thought we’d be able to run it for some time, but unfortunately it’s not going to work out that way.”
Parkdale Mills, a North Carolina-based textile company, purchased two other Avondale Mills plants last year along with Rockford, including one in Alexander City and one in Graniteville, S.C.
At the time, Avondale employees had just received news their plants would be closing, and some 1,400 lost their jobs in the Sylacauga and Pell City areas.
The purchase of the two plants saved nearly 400 jobs in both the Rockford and Alexander City areas, and Parkdale Mills invested approximately $42 million in the two facilities, $10 million of which went to Rockford, to replace worn-out equipment.
“It has nothing to do with the people. We have been pleased with everyone, and we’re very disturbed that we even have to do this,” Nims said. “… What Rockford has product-wise continues to deteriorate, and the market is not competitive.”
The Alexander City plant is not suffering the same fate as the Rockford plant, Nims said, and will remain open, because a different product is being produced at that site.
Hiring has been frozen, though, at the Alexander City plant to make room for any Rockford plant workers who would like to make the move.
“We usually have good luck placing most people,” Nims said.
Parkdale Mills currently has 24 plants and 2,500 employees across the Southeast United States and is operating in four different countries, including Colombia, Mexico and Honduras.
