Nichols & Stone facing tough times

Company attempts to cut manufacturing jobs, but may end up closing if state doesn’t help out

By Owen Boss

GARDNER — The recent lack of support from state agencies to assist Nichols & Stone’s planned transition to a smaller location may cause the company to consider closing down completely, said Carlton “Tuck” Nichols, president and CEO of the company Thursday. Over the last couple of months, the furniture company, which was established in Westminster in 1857 and is the oldest furniture company still operating in the United States, has significantly cut back on its operations. In February, the number of employees dropped from 200 to approximately 160, and Mr. Nichols said the reduction to the current staff of 90 employees was part of a plan to relocate the business. “Our original plan was to phase down most of our production, sell this property, and move to our Cross Street warehouse location to become more of an importer,” said Mr. Nichols. “That is the plan that we put in place some months ago and since that time some things have changed.” According to Mr. Nichols, business has been getting consistently worse over the past several months and as a result he was forced to cut labor. “We are part of a marketplace where a lot of the importers are targeting our product line, and we felt that we needed to become more of an importer as opposed to fully-integrated manufacturing,” said Mr. Nichols. As business continued to drop for the company over the last couple of weeks, Mr. Nichols said that he began working with lenders toward funding a transition to a new location. “Over these last couple of weeks in spite of the fact that the plan was a solid one, business has fallen off even more, and as a result we have been working very closely with our lenders,” said Mr. Nichols. “Financing this conversion is definitely going to be a challenge for us because of the state and national economy.” Although Mr. Nichols has looked to city officials for help, he has been able to find little support from state agencies. “One of the things that we found when we were planning the move was that there aren’t really any state aid programs available that would help address our needs,” said Mr. Nichols. “When a company is reducing its size there seems to be no programs for that, it is all directed toward job creation or job transition.” Mr. Hawke said that he has been in touch with Mr. Nichols and has been doing all he can to find a way to acquire state funding that would help in keeping the historic company afloat. “It is no secret that Nichols & Stone has fallen upon tough times, and I have been working to try and find them assistance from different state programs, I have spoken with Lt. Gov. Tim Murray about it, I’ve spoken with Secretary O’Connell about it, and I’ve spoken with Sen. (John) Kerry about it,” said Mr. Hawke. “It is due to a lackluster economy, and it is a direct reflection of the impact of foreign competition.” With the lack of proper funding for the transition, Mr. Nichols called the prospect of shutting down the company for good a “very real possibility,” and emphasized that he understands what that decision would mean for his employees and the city. “The sad thing is that here we are trying to save ‘x’ number of jobs for people who have been so loyal and committed to Nichols & Stone,” said Mr. Nichols. “And the impact it will have on the community is something that we are not taking lightly.” For the time being, Mr. Nichols said that he plans to continue running the business as usual, and he expects to have a finalized plan for the future of the company sometime in June, before the company takes its annual vacation from business. “We are still working on the plan, at this point we don’t have a determined date for closing, we are still open and we are running the business as usual as best we can,” said Mr. Nichols. “Our intent is to keep running here as long as possible.” oboss@thegardnernews.com

Appeared on Page 1 on 5/30/2008 (Vol. 206 No. 128)