New GA facility opens for manufacturing

Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 12/10/2001 12:00:00 AM

NORTH VERNON, IN —

As of the first quarter of 2002 all manufacturing and distributing of Regal product will be relocated to the company's new, state-of-the-art, 200,000-square-foot facility in Ellijay, GA. The new facility will employ about 300 people, said Andrew Smithson, ceo.

At the new site, Regal will manufacture some kitchen and bath rugs and will also conduct all distribution for its imported goods, which make up about 25 percent of the its total business. Regal imports mainly from India, China and Taiwan, among other countries.

The existing 200,000-square-foot facility in North Vernon, IN, will be closed. Regal's corporate headquarters will remain in North Vernon, but will be moved to a new site.

"We basically had too much of a manufacturing facility here for the volume of goods we're making because we've stepped up our importing," Smithson said.

"The factory in North Vernon is more than 50 years old, and it costs a lot of money to maintain. In Georgia, we have a modern new facility which will be more productive for us," he said.