One day after layoffs, second Bedford furniture maker says they’re ‘on track’

The day after one Bedford furniture maker announced it would close most of its local plant, an official at a neighboring chair factory reported that business is holding up.

Sam Moore Furniture has reduced hours for some workers but has not had layoffs in almost a year, said company President Alan Cole.

With 260 employees, Sam Moore is the city of Bedford’s second-largest employer, after Bedford Memorial Hospital, said Elizabeth Berry-Mosley, Bedford’s economic development director.

“We’re doing a number of things at Sam Moore to keep our business on track,” Cole said.

“We’re not just sitting here waiting for the economy to get better. We’re trying to proactively stimulate our business.”

The Sam Moore factory is beside Frank Chervan Inc.’s Bedford plant on Dawn Drive. On Wednesday, that company announced that it would close most of the factory, affecting 90 workers. Some of those workers could get hired on at Frank Chervan’s Roanoke plant.

Frank Chervan is shuttering most of the plant because it expects fewer orders next year. Some of its major customers are banks that have been hit hard by this fall’s financial crisis.

Sam Moore, which has been in Bedford since about 1960, makes chairs and “accent furniture” such as benches and ottomans, Cole said. That niche has helped the company’s business this year.

“Our product is not what some people would term big-ticket furniture items,” Cole said. When money is tight, “very often the consumer, instead of buying a whole roomful of furniture, will buy a few pieces to freshen up a room.”

Still, sales have fallen this year. Sam Moore’s parent company, Hooker Furniture based in Martinsville, had a 10 percent drop in net sales from February to August, compared to the same time in 2007. The company’s next financial report is scheduled for Dec. 10.

Cole said sales for Sam Moore have not dropped as much as the parent company’s sales.

This spring, the company introduced a new line of recliner chairs, which before were not a focus, and “we were very pleased with the reaction to that new line,” Cole said.

The company also introduced several new furniture products “that capitalized on our finishing capabilities” in October, he said.

Cole, who became president and CEO of Sam Moore in August, said the company laid off about 18 workers late in 2007 or early this year.

Since then the company has had to reduce the workweek for employees in some operations, based on what needs to be produced. Some employees work three or four days per week.

“We definitely are not running at full capacity,” Cole said.

The company currently does not have plans for more layoffs, although “we can’t assure that there wouldn’t be,” Cole said. “Predictability’s a tough thing.”

Another major employer in Bedford, frozen food producer Brooks Foods, said its business is continuing to do well. It has 160 employees at its Orange Drive facility.

Barb Nash, vice president of human relations, said food companies are facing less foreign competition than furniture manufacturers.

The company hasn’t had to lay off workers or reduce their hours, she said. “Our employees have been working full time. … We’ve been fortunate.”