Shaw closes Chatsworth plant

Staff photo by Jake Daniels Shaw Industries, based in Dalton, Ga., is a leading maker of floorcovering.

Shaw Industries will wind down operations at its Chatsworth, Ga.-based Plant 82 in coming weeks, the company announced in a news release.

About 306 employees are affected, though Shaw said it would offer positions throughout the company to those hourly employees who choose to remain.

The spun yarn facility uses an older technology that has fallen out with consumers in favor of the more modern filament yarn process, the company said.

Kemp Harr, publisher of Floor Focus magazine, said the closing, like similar plants Shaw has closed in Ringgold, Trenton and Calhoun, the closing of the Murray County plants is part of Shaw changing its processes to adapt to technology, said Harr.

“It’s just exactly what it is, there’s nothing hidden there,” he said.

Harr said the closing is likely not driven by overall market conditions because the floor covering industry has seen demand stabilize from it’s decline over the last few years and even trend upward slightly in recent months.

Shaw grew by acquiring parts of other companies, Harr explained.

“At the time when Shaw was acquiring everybody stapled yarn was the way to go,” he said. “You don’t use the same assets.”

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