Westlake closes vinyl windows plant in Texas

Houston-based Westlake Royal Building Products has closed a window manufacturing plant in Carrollton, Texas, which had 260 employees who faced layoffs or transfers to a Dallas facility.

The company shuttered the Legacy vinyl windows facility on May 4, according to a notice filed to meet the Workers Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act.

Westlake is consolidating its windows operations in Texas, the company said in a statement to Plastics News.

"This difficult decision was not made lightly but is necessary due to the substantial investments the company has made in optimizing its overall network efficiency and performance. Approximately 260 employees will be impacted by the closure, with as many as 125 being offered a similar position at the nearby Krestmark windows facility in Dallas."

The company is not unionized.

The Legacy line will continue to be produced, either at the Dallas site or a windows plants in Houston, the statement also says.

Westlake acquired the Legacy, Krestmark and Magnolia brands — sold mainly in Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico and Oklahoma — in June 2021 from Boral Industries Inc. in a $2.15 billion all-cash deal that also brought roofing, siding, trim, shutters and decorative stone to the product lineup.

The layoffs at Westlake's recently acquired Boral plant follow the pink slipping of 72 workers at a Cornerstone Building Products vinyl windows and doors facility in North Brunswick, N.J., effective July 18.

Also, 190 employees at the Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, headquarters site of Associated Materials LLC will be laid off on May 20 or within 14 days of that date as part of a plan for "optimizing our U.S. windows manufacturing operations" at facilities in more active markets.

In addition, Charlotte, N.C.-based Jeld-Wen Holding Inc. said it will close two plants and layoff about 110 people, including those at a Vista, Calif., facility that produces composite windows marketed and sold under the brand name Auraline.

In the housing market, overall builder sentiment has flattened, mortgage rates remain high and inflation data failed to show improvement during the first quarter of 2024, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

Also, 26 percent of builders plan to construct even smaller this year, the NAHB says. Their latest What Home Buyers Really Want study indicates another downward shift in buyer preferences for home size. In 2003, the typical buyer wanted 2,260 square feet; now, it's 2,067 square feet.

In addition, multifamily starts are predicted to decline in 2024, but there is a bright spot. The remodeling sector, where a lot of new windows go, is expected to hold steady this year.

"Demand for remodeling remains solid, especially among customers who don't need to finance their projects at current interest rates," NAHB Remodelers Chair Mike Pressgrove, a remodeler from Topeka, Kan., said in an April NAHB release. "Construction costs are still an issue in some places, just as they were toward the end of last year."