Home Care In Whitsett, NC

John-Richard, a leading supplier in luxury home furnishings and décor has announced a significant shift in its business landscape with the relocation of its corporate headquarters and centralized distribution facility to a spacious 236,000-square-foot facility in Whitsett, NC.

The company has operated in the Mississippi Delta since it was founded in 1980. “After a transition of ownership in 2020, a strategic decision was made to relocate key components of the growing operation to North Carolina. Scheduled for October 15, John-Richard will shift its corporate operations to the Piedmont Triad, an area that has long been acknowledged as the heart and soul of the furniture industry,” saidAndrea Kimbrell, COO.

The Triad not only provides access to a large pool of local talent that fosters strong partnerships but also serves as a phenomenal distribution hub, offering easy access to several east coast ports and an extensive network of major highways, factors that significantly enhance the company’s logistics agility.

Located in Greenwood, MS, John-Richard’s previous headquarters will continue to operate as a manufacturing hub for the company’s art and botanical lines. Currently operating out of an additional leased facility totaling 430,000 square feet, the company will now consolidate into its company-owned facility, made possible by the move of its distribution to North Carolina. The company will still have a significant footprint in Mississippi, occupying 250,000 square feet and well over 100 employees.

Plans are in place to rework the owned property with the aim of increasing capacity and expanding production capabilities. Scheduled for October 15, this strategic move positions the company at the heart of the home furnishings industry, facilitating strong partnerships and enhancing access to key resources.

As John-Richard continues to evolve, its unwavering dedication to timeless design and superior quality remains stronger than ever. The company believes that the move to North Carolina will greatly improve its service to customers.

Manufacturing Move

In addition, John-Richard underwent a transition to a new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Vietnam last month. Additionally, John-Richard will be renovating and expanding an existing facility in India starting in early 2024.

Located in the Binh Duong Industrial Park, the factory will more than double the size of its existing facility and introduce additional in-house capabilities, something the company considers a key competitive advantage over many of its competitors. The Vietnam facility manufactures and supplies virtually all the company’s furniture, case goods and upholstery, as well as several products in the company’s additional categories of lighting and accessories.

“This is a very exciting time for our company as we move into this brand-new facility, more than doubling our capacity and enhancing our skilled artisan’s ability to continue producing unique and saleable products,” states Scott Smith, CMO.

The Industrial Park is developed by Frasers Property Development; a large multinational property development company that has worked closely with John-Richard to construct the build-to-suit facility. Following LEED design principles the facility has LED lighting, green spaces, and a focus on health and well-being. In addition, the company is actively considering the integration of solar panels to embrace clean, renewable energy in future operations.

John-Richard has completed a rigorous environmental footprint assessment on the new factory, falling in line with the many green initiatives the company has planned, features include the installation of VOC capture systems, noise abatement measures, as well as strict control of any effluents or airborne pollutants.

A newly opened Vietnam facility marks a significant milestone for John-Richard, further upgrading their manufacturing capability. Investments in cutting-edge technology will ensure the highest standards of production and quality control. This expansion enables the company to meet the evolving demands of its customers with greater efficiency and expanded capacity.

In other strategic moves, John-Richard is enhancing its existing India factory with new equipment, internal building construction, and a realignment of processes to maximize efficiency. This modernization is phase 1 of a larger expansion project set to begin in early 2024; beginning with the addition of factory space, providing additional capacity and enhanced capabilities, planned for completion in 2024. The India facility supplies large quantities of accessories and lighting for the company.

HIGH POINT — John-Richard, a luxury home furnishings and décor supplier, is relocating the company’s corporate headquarters and centralized distribution facility to a new 236,000-square-foot facility in Whitsett, N.C. The company has operated in the Mississippi Delta since its founding in 1980.

“After a transition of ownership in 2020, a strategic decision was made to relocate key components of the growing operation to North Carolina,” said Andrea Kimbrell, COO. “Scheduled for Oct. 15, John-Richard will shift its corporate operations to the Piedmont Triad, an area that has long been acknowledged as the heart and soul of the furniture industry.

Officials of the company noted that the Triad provides access to a large pool of local talent that “fosters strong partnerships” and also serves as a “phenomenal distribution hub offering easy access to several East Coast ports and an extensive network of major highways, factors that significantly enhance the company’s logistics agility.”

The current Greenwood, Miss., headquarters will continue to operate as a manufacturing hub for the company’s art and botanical lines, officials said. Currently, the company operates out of an additional leased facility totaling 430,000 square feet and will now be consolidated in its company-owned facility made possible by the move of its distribution to North Carolina.

Officials added that the company will still have a significant footprint in Mississippi, occupying 250,000 square feet and with more than 100 employees. Plans are also in place to rework the owned property with the aim of increasing capacity and expanding production capabilities.

Additionally, officials said that the company is planning “exciting new initiatives in its art lines beginning at the October High Point Market.” The latest introductions follow a significant product rollout at High Point Market in April.

“Our talented design team is excited to lead the return to beautiful wood references and mixed materials for accent furnishings,” said John-Richard CEO Alan Galbraith in an earlier interview. “I believe that our new introductions are strong in all product categories and that we once again will excite market visitors with our design innovation.”

The move to North Carolina, described as strategic by company representatives, positions John-Richard in an area referenced as the heart of the home furnishings industry. Officials noted in a release that the move will facilitate strong partnerships and enhance access to key resources.

“As John-Richard continues to evolve, its unwavering dedication to timeless design and superior quality remains stronger than ever. The company believes the move to North Carolina will greatly improve its service to customers.”

See also:

Guilford County deputies have charged three men in connection to a shooting in Whitsett that left a 70-year-old woman injured.

WHITSETT, N.C. — A third man has been charged in connection to a shooting that happened in Whitsett on Tuesday, Jan. 23, according to Guilford County deputies.

Xavier Vincent Lee, 19, was arrested and charged on Monday with one count of Assault with a Deadly Weapon Inflicting Serious Injury and three counts of Discharging a Barreled Weapon into an Occupied Dwelling, according to deputies.

Deputies charged Cedric Lee Jr., 23, and Cameron Drake Booker, 20, on Friday, Jan. 26 after shooting inside multiple homes on Glenville Drive.

A 70-year-old woman was injured in the shooting near Rock Creek Dairy Road, according to deputies. She is expected to be okay.

Deputies discovered that Booker took himself to a nearby hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Several other houses and cars in the area were also hit by bullets with no other reported injuries.

This investigation is ongoing.

Related Articles

MORE WAYS TO GET WFMY NEWS 2

Subscribe to our daily newsletter Let’s Get 2 It!

Download the WFMY News 2 APP from your Apple or Google Play store.

ADD THE WFMY+ APP TO YOUR STREAMING DEVICE

ROKU: Add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching for WFMY.

Amazon Fire TV: Search for WFMY to find the free app to add to your account. You can also add the app directly to your Fire TV through your Amazon account.

SUBSCRIBE | https://bit.ly/2vsX74I

Follow us:

Facebook | https://bit.ly/3326pAY

Twitter | https://bit.ly/2vIPZkT

Instagram | https://bit.ly/39Ghs5a

Download the WFMY News 2 app:

?Text the word APP to 336-379-5775

Precor, an exercise equipment manufacturing company with a plant in Whitsett, has notified the state Department of Commerce that it will close its plant at 5704 Millstream Road in Whitsett and lay off 123 employees this fall.

Precor has filed a “Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification” (WARN notice) with the state commerce department, announcing its intention to permanently close its facility in Whitsett. Federal law requires companies with at least 100 full-time employees to provide a minimum of 60 days’ notice of any planned closure that will result in mass layoffs.

Precor was bought out in late 2020 for $420 million by Peloton, which specializes in at-home internet-connected exercise bikes and treadmills, according to Supply Chain Dive, a manufacturing trade publication. Supply Chain Dive reported last month that Peloton is struggling to sell some of its manufacturing assets after losing millions in revenue in 2022.

Peloton subsequently reported that it had not anticipated the risks of acquiring Precor. Those unanticipated risks include: Precor’s past practice of operating in commercial markets that Peloton has little experience in; the 791 Precor employees based “in a number of countries around the world [who] are now Peloton employees”; and a failure to assess the magnitude of liabilities and other shortcomings in Precor’s business prior to acquisition, according to Peloton’s 2022 annual report.

Precor had a total of 791 employees in 13 countries, with most based at the manufacturing plant in Whitsett and Woodinville, Washington, Peloton stated in its latest annual report to investors.

Peloton had experienced a rise in at-home exercise equipment sales at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, the company announced in July 2022 that it would abandon its efforts to bring manufacturing in-house and also would cut its U.S. workforce by about 21 percent (or 780 employees), from 3,723 to 2,943 employees, and would eliminate 500 positions in Taiwan, according to Peloton’s 2022 annual report. Peloton also had announced in May 2021 its plans to build a manufacturing facility in Troy Township, Ohio, but has since decided to sell that property, according to the 2022 annual report.

The closure of the Precor plant in Whitsett permanent and takes effect at the end of October, according to the WARN notice that was filed with the N.C. Commerce Department Thursday, March 9.

The Precor plant is located on 33.34 acres of land that fronts I-85/40 and is owned by Rock Creek Investments, LLC, according to Guilford County’s tax department.

Guilford County tax records list the latest assessed value for the land at just over $1 million. The latest assessed value for the business real property – which includes machinery/equipment, furniture, computers, improvements, and unspecified supplies – at 5704 Millstream Road is listed at $5.4 million, according to Guilford County’s tax records.

Since August, we've known a new Amazon facility might be coming to Guilford County. Amazon confirmed the news on Monday.

WHITSETT, N.C. — Amazon is opening a new delivery station in Whitsett in 2021, the company confirmed Monday.

Previous: Amazon delivery station may be coming to the Triad

Amazon officials say the new facility will bring hundreds of full-time jobs paying a minimum of $15 per hour.

"Those jobs will be a big part of this area and this community's recovery in the coming months and years," Greensboro Chamber of Commerce CEO Brent Christensen said.

This makes the third Amazon delivery station in the Piedmont Triad and ninth delivery station in North Carolina.

Development began on a lot inside the Rock Creek Center on Franz Warner Parkway in late summer.

Christensen and other county officials said the project has been in the works for months but the partnership with Amazon took time to become official.

Amazon declined to give a number of exactly how many full-time jobs this will create at the distribution center.

District Four Guilford County Commissioner Alan Branson said this center will likely be smaller than the Colfax facility but will still have a big impact.

"We don't have quite the job force that we used to have in the textile and tobacco industries so I think this is an opportunity for folks to have a position or a place to go to work that will be decent," Branson said.

Christensen said this site is just one example of how the Triad is benefitting from what he calls "extreme growth" at Amazon. All three of these delivery centers were built within the last year.

"Demand for Amazon products is increasing in our community," Christensen said, "and they bring much-needed jobs and will help our economic recovery that much more."

Branson said he thinks there's more room for this type of industry to grow in Guilford County.

"Guilford County, Greensboro, High Point area we are a potential hub or magnet so to speak for delivery, logistics in the area," Branson said.

“We are excited to continue to invest in the state of North Carolina with a new delivery station that will provide efficient delivery for customers and create hundreds of job opportunities. This new delivery station represents Amazon’s unwavering commitment to safety, technological innovations and skilled teams who are obsessed with delivering for our customers,” Ashley Lansdale, Amazon Spokesperson, said.

Amazon officials say the company has created more than 12,500 jobs in North Carolina since 2010 and invested more than $2.1 billion across the state.

“We appreciate Amazon’s continued investment in Guilford County with this new delivery station. We look forward to continuing our support of their growth and success,” Jeff Phillips, Chairman, Guilford County Board of Commissioners, said.