The doors are closed. The clock's been punched for the last time. Pisgah Yarn & Dyeing is no more.
Since the announcement was made in January, some 81 employees have lost their jobs. The Old Fort facility is expected to function as a distribution center for the next few weeks, employing six people. The inventory, equipment and trademarks have been sold to Spinrite Yarns, a Canadian firm.
Workers leaving the plant this week carried home memories of a generation of toil -- and a basket full of resentment. Brad Bradley said he has worked for the company for 11 years and believes managers sold out without making any sincere effort to save the company.
"There were a lot of good workers here," he said as he left the building for the last time. "They did everything they could. They took a pay cut; they came in and worked Saturdays. They busted their butts. Then (management) came in and said we're closing in the next 30 days -- no warning, no explanation. It's been mismanaged for a long while"
"My grandfather (Jack Lonon) started this company in the ’70s when it moved from Forest City," he stated. When he died in Fall 2009, control of the firm passed to Bradley's uncles, Jack Jr. and Steve Lonon. Bradley said that's when troubles began. The younger Lonons made no effort to develop new markets, such as selling to Target or other retailers, he said. Instead, they sold almost exclusively to Walmart, four truckloads a week.
A new corporate buyer for Walmart, he added, preferred doing business with the Canadian firm. And Spinrite coveted Pisgah Yarn's brand, Peaches & Cream, a respected name in the industry.
"It was that label really, that they wanted," he said.
In January, Jack Jr. told The McDowell News that the high price of cotton was a major factor in making a small American manufacturer uncompetitive in today's market. Bradley agreed, but said efforts to crack new markets could have saved the company. Instead, he believes his uncles chose to cash in by selling out.
"I've been here since I was 15," he said. "I left school to come back fulltime to try to help out.
"I'm sick of it. I'm just disgusted," he said.
Steve and Jack Lonon Jr. both declined to be interviewed for this story Wednesday.
The McDowell News received numerous calls Wednesday from people identifying themselves as Pisgah workers. None wanted their names to appear in a story.
The company's website makes no mention of the factory closing or the jobs lost, only that there are 50 percent discounts available during an "inventory reduction sale," and that the outlet store would be closed after Feb. 22.
The website also offers this bit of wisdom:
"The Bitterness of Poor Quality Lingers Long After The Sweetness of a Cheap Price is Forgotten."
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