MasterBrand Cabinets Closes Martinsville Plant: 335 Jobs Lost

JASPER, IN - MasterBrand Cabinets employees were notified Friday that the Martinsville, VA, plant would close Aug. 10, resulting in the layoff of 335 employees, according to news sources in the area.

The Martinsville plant is one of four MasterBrand manufacturing plants producing semi-custom cabinets. According to reports, it was eight years ago that MasterBrand began production in the Henry County facility.

According to Robert Jacobs, MasterBrand executive vice president of human resources, the closure was the result of a need to consolidate, with geography playing a role in the decision. News sources report that the employees will receive 60 days of pay and benefits.

“After a thorough review of our manufacturing operations, we’ve made the decision to consolidate the production of our semi-custom cabinetry offerings into other U.S. facilities to maximize current production capabilities and geographic advantages. We remain focused on outperforming a challenging market, and have enough capacity in our remaining facilities to see us through a recovery in this market,” Greg Stoner, president of the company, said in a statement to the Martinsville Bulletin.

Part of Fortune Brands Home & Security, the MasterBrand group of semi-custom and custom cabinetry includes the following brands: Aristokraft Cabinetry, Omega Cabinetry, Dynasty by Omega, KitchenCraft Cabinetry, Decora, Homecrest Cabinetry, Cabinetry by Diamond, Kemper, and Schrock Cabinetry.

Fortune Brands’ cabinets segment, grew by 1 percent in the second quarter of 2012, with Kitchen & Bath Cabinetry net operating profit up 22 percent to $18 million.

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Watch a video of the announcement, courtesy of WSLS 10.