Ethan Allen announces layoffs in North Carolina, New Jersey

A Connecticut-based furniture manufacturer plans to lay off almost 400 workers at plants in North Carolina and New Jersey.

The Asheville Citizen-Times reports Ethan Allen Interiors said in a news release that it will lay off 325 workers from its manufacturing facility in Old Fort, North Carolina, and 55 employees in Passaic, New Jersey.

The company says the Old Fort plant will be converted to a distribution center. It will keep its lumber processing facility there while about half its case goods manufacturing will be consolidated at two plants in Vermont.

Meanwhile, the company plans to add 80,000 square feet to its three-building campus in Maiden.

In its annual report, Ethan Allen said it has about 5,200 employees. It's unclear how many of those employees work in Old Fort.

___

Information from: The Asheville Citizen-Times, http://www.citizen-times.com