Jeld-Wen Holding Inc. will close its interior and exterior door facility in Lexington, N.C., in December and has begun laying off all 135 employees.
The first round of job losses for workers of the Charlotte, N.C.-based window and door manufacturer began Oct. 28 and will continue through Dec. 27, according to the company's Oct. 28 letter to the North Carolina Department of Commerce.
The facility makes doors from fiberglass and other materials. Jeld-Wen sells fiberglass, wood and steel exterior doors as well as composite and wood interior doors.
"The closure is part of our global footprint rationalization and modernization program, which is designed to build efficiencies in our network and improve service and quality for our customers," a news statement from Jeld-Wen says.
"We have a comprehensive program in place to either retain talent or assist our employees with outplacement services as they transition from the company," the statement continues. "The Lexington facility closure will support our value of improving daily by doing everything we can to advance the way we operate and do business."
The Lexington plant had been operating since 1987, according to a local media report. Jeld-Wen bought the facility from Morgan Products in 1996. Fiberglass door production began there in 2005. The facility had about 195 employees as recently as November 2016.
However, Jeld-Wen officials have said reduced demand in residential new construction channels and "erratic order patterns" in the North American windows retail channel have hampered overall sales. The company reported revenue dropped 3.9 percent to $1.09 billion for the third quarter compared to the same period last year.
Jeld-Wen President and CEO Gary S. Michel said in an Oct. 10 news release that he is disappointed in the preliminary quarterly results, which were primarily driven by soft demand in North America and further deterioration of housing activity in Australia and New Zealand.
"I believe the issues that impacted our third quarter results underscore the urgency to continue to implement our strategy, reduce our cost structure, eliminate complexity in our operations, and increase agility throughout the organization," Michel said.
For the full year of 2019, he expects a 2 percent decline in revenue.
At the Lexington facility, all employees have been informed of their separation dates. The job positions being eliminated include 27 lay-up assemblers and their support, 24 general production workers, 17 cell assemblers and five material handlers.