Mannington Expanding Operations in High Point

High Point, NC, February 14--Mannington Mills Inc. is embarking on its fifth expansion in the past nine years at its High Point factories that make wood floor panels, according to the Triad Business Journal. Mannington is expanding to meet increased demand, said vice president of operations Doug Brown. For Mannington, construction recently started on a $3.4 million, 100,000-square-foot warehouse building on Pendleton Street in eastern High Point near NC 311. Samet Corp. in Greensboro is handling that construction, and is also completing renovations to Mannington's main factory on Lincoln Drive near downtown High Point. These expansions will give Mannington 418,000 square feet of space in three buildings in High Point. Mannington is already running three shifts a day so the expansions should help ease capacity constraints as well as allow for production of larger wood-floor panels. Brown said the company plans to keep High Point employment steady at 465 for now, but may add staff next January when all facets of the expansion have been incorporated into the company's manufacturing process. This is quite a contrast from 1996, when the New Jersey company considered shutting down its High Point operations because they weren't efficient enough. This latest expansion will allow the Mannington operations in High Point to handle more wood, wood laminate, vinyl and ceramic floor tile panels. "Last year we had to walk away from business because we didn't have the (necessary) capacity and couldn't fill all the orders," Brown said. The current construction will be done by July and should provide the capacity to meet demand. "Our sales guys will have a challenge, but now we'll have the capacity," Brown said. Brown said the company's sales have grown by 10 percent each of the past five years, but he would not discuss overall revenues. "The flooring business is good right now because housing trade-ups are good right now, new home starts are good right now and mortgage rates are good right now," said John Baugh, an analyst at Legg Mason Wood Walker in Richmond, Va.