American buys big Kensington facility
By Gary Evans -- Furniture Today, December 24, 2001
PONTOTOC, Miss. — PONTOTOC, Miss. — American Furniture Co. has acquired an upholstery manufacturing plant in Houlka, Miss., formerly owned by now-defunct Kensington Furniture.
"American is growing so fast we needed the extra facility," said President Gerald Washington. "It will allow us to move on with motion furniture that we planned but didn't have room to do with our plant (in Pontotoc)."
The 500,000-square-foot facility is essentially three plants in one. It will be used to make sofas at the $299 and $399 retail price points, to produce motion furniture, and serve as a woodworking facility. American has only one $299 sofa in its line now.
The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Mississippi signed off on the purchase. Washington said he will outfit the Houlka plant with equipment the company has on hand and the facility will be up and running in January.
With five plants, and a planned 180,000-square-foot expansion, American will have over 1.2 million square feet of manufacturing space.
Washington said the plant acquisition was on behalf of American Furniture and not a personal investment. Clearview Capital, a Connecticut investment company, owns American.
