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Nichols & Stone Slashes Local Operations

June 4, 2008

The headline was written on April 14 2008 by Livia Gershon  about Nichols & Stone.  The logo says it all "Since 1857"!  Gershon writes:

Last Gardner furniture factory faces uncertain future

Nichols & Stone, the only sizable furniture manufacturer still operating in the "chair city" of Gardner, is poised to quit making products from scratch.

"We're trying to do everything we can to continue as a manufacturer in America, which is a very difficult task," said President and CEO Carlton "Tuck" Nichols.

Layoffs have already hit Nichols & Stone employees hard. Nichols said he had more than 200 workers a year ago. According to a mass layoff notice that the company filed with the state government last month, that number is now down to 114. The notice says 29 more employees will be permanently laid off between May 20 and May 30, and additional layoffs will follow.

Nichols said the company has not finalized plans to change its operations, but it is already in the process of outsourcing much of its production work. He said the 151-year-old company hopes to continue doing assembly, finishing and packaging in Gardner.

The City of Gardner, Mass.  has a long history of manufacturing chairs in the U.S.  and it's a sad history of so many U.S. companies gone, out of business.  Done in by an inabilty to compete with cheaper labor overseas and a falling dollar.

S. Bent & Brothers, Inc. - Company closed: 2001
Collier-Keyworth Company - Company closed: 1989
Conant Ball Company - Company closed: about 1990
P. Derby & Company - Company closed: 1935
John A. Dunn Company - Company closed: 1930
Fontaine Brothers - The company has closed.
Gardner Craftsmen, Inc. - The company has closed.
Gardner Machine Works, Inc. - It closed, and an effort was made to save the site around 1980.
Greenwood Associates - The business was dissolved in 1938.
C. H. Hartshorn, Inc. - The company closed in 1993.
Heywood-Wakefield Company - Date closed: Heywood-Wakefield closed in 1979.
Kelly Brothers - Date closed: Late 1970s or early 1980s.
Lilly Chemical Products, Inc. - Date closed: Soon after 2000.
S. K. Pierce & Son - Date closed: About 1937.
L. B. Ramsdell Company - Date sold: Roger Smith sold the business to the American Mills, Inc. in 1957.
Rousseau Brothers Manufacturing Co., Inc. - Date closed: In 1973
R. Smith Upholstering Company - R. Smith probably closed in the late 1980s.

Let's hope that Nichols & Stone doesn't join that list of distinguished companies.

Thoughts??? Email them to me at landfair3554@comcast.net

Posted by Mike Landfair on June 4, 2008 | Comments (5)