News Room
Textile firm plans growth that could add up to 200 jobs
By Laura Youngs - The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area
April 17, 2009
ASHEBORO — A Randolph County apparel maker that specializes in jeans, military garb and backwoods firefighting uniforms is leasing a $1.2 million former Hanesbrands plant as part of a relocation that could create up to 200 new jobs.
Fox Apparel, whose best-known brand is Texas Jeans, recently signed a three-year lease for the 168,000-square-foot plant with an option to buy, said Jordan Reece, a broker with Triad Commercial Properties in High Point. Reece represented the building’s owner, Woodland, Calif.-based Tower Investments LLC.
Harry Lane, with the Randolph County Economic Development Corp., confirmed the company’s relocation plans and potential for new hires.
He did not know the positions for which Fox Apparel will be hiring in the coming year, nor when the company plans to move from its existing plant. Fox Apparel now has 252 employees. Wage rates at the plant were unavailable. Company officials declined to comment.
The former Hanesbrands plant, which manufactured elastic fabric, closed in 2008, eliminating 40 jobs. It is located in Asheboro at the corner of Industrial Park Avenue and Business 220, near Randolph County Community College. The plant is actually slightly smaller than the 186,000-square-foot plant Fox Apparel now operates on Dixie Drive, about two miles away.
Tower Investments, the company behind the redevelopment of the former Guilford Mills factory sites on Wendover Avenue in Greensboro, bought the plant for $1.2 million from Winston-Salem-based Hanesbrands about a year ago. Reece said Hanesbrands removed all of the equipment in the building, and Fox Apparel will have to do some upfitting before it moves in. He could not estimate how much Fox Apparel plans to invest in renovations, but he said the company is now evaluating contractor bids.
While Fox Apparel officials are being circumspect about their plans, the company has expanded and contracted in recent years with the rise and decline of its government contracts. A few years ago, for example, Fox cut its work force from 350 to 150 when a $103 million contract to make Army uniforms was greatly reduced.
Now, new multimillion-dollar government and military apparel contracts appear to be driving the need for Fox Apparel to relocate to upgraded facilities and add workers, as it has been doing steadily during the past year.
For example, the company has a $13 million contract to produce the dress uniforms for the U.S. Coast Guard, as well as a renewal of a contract to make Army combat uniform coats, for a maximum of $22.8 million, said Teresa Bouchonnet, a business development specialist who focuses on the textile industry for the N.C. Military Business Center.
She said that though the awards were given last year, it’s likely the actual orders for the apparel are just now coming in, creating a need for more jobs and more space. She added that the company told her it is putting in more bids for coveralls for the Army, Navy and other divisions.
Bouchonnet said that although the number of government contracts isn’t necessarily rising, it is one of the few reliable sources of business right now for domestic textile, furniture and other manufacturers.
Lane said the company did not receive incentives, adding that its expansion comes at an important time.
“This (expansion) is very unusual, with this kind of recession we’re in,” he said.
Just south of Asheboro in Ramseur, the town’s largest employer, Ramtex, is closing its 800,000-square-foot yarn-making plant this week, leaving 205 employees out of work. Through February, unemployment in Randolph County is above 12 percent. Lane said Fox Apparel’s plans could potentially provide jobs for those laid off by Ramtex and others.