Thomaston issues warning

By Don Hogsett -- Home Textiles Today, 6/18/2001 12:00:00 AM

THOMASTON, GA —

Teetering on the edge and preparing for the worst, Thomaston Mills has sent out a 60-day warning to all 1,400 employees telling them if a buyer can't be found for the company, it will forever close its doors by mid-August, and likely sooner.

"I'm still hopeful we can find a buyer, and negotiations are in an advanced stage, but we just aren't there. And if a buyer can't be found, we will proceed with the orderly wind-down of operations," said Bill Ott, president. "This has been a miserable week. This whole industry is all screwed up."

Ott said, "We have, for all practical purposes, closed our greige mill." In the meantime, he added, "We are still shipping our customers and working to get the goods to them."