NEW ALBANY, Miss. – Stationary and motion upholstery manufacturer Fusion Furniture has acquired the former Emerald Home Furnishings plant here for an undisclosed amount.
Production is scheduled to begin next week at the 200,000-square-foot facility, where employment could reach 150 to 180.
Fusion President Bo Robbins said one production line is in training this week and is set to start regular manufacturing on Monday. Training on a second line begins next week, with production beginning mid-November. He added that outside factors, especially foam shortages, will constrain production at first.
“We wanted to start up at warp speed, but the problem right now is foam allotments from suppliers,” he said. “We hope to have these lines running at full capacity by the end of the year. We can add up to two more lines relatively quickly depending on the foam situation.”
Robbins added that labor remains a constant focus. “We received more than 200 applications at a New Albany job fair, and some of those were experienced,” he said. “But we’re having to raise base wages and offer bonuses for recruitment, retention and perfect attendance.”
The New Albany gives Fusion a total manufacturing and distribution footprint of around 650,000 square feet including warehouse space leased offsite.
Ecru, Miss.-based Fusion was founded in 2009 in a 40,000-square-foot plant there. In 2012, Fusion expanded with the opening of a 157,000-square-foot manufacturing facility to complement its original plant.
I’m Powell Slaughter, senior editor at Furniture/Today. I returned to the publication in January 2015 after nine years of writing about furniture retail strategies and best practices at a monthly magazine focusing on home furnishings retail operations. Prior to that, I spent 10 years with F/T covering wood furniture, the last five of those as case goods editor. Upon my return to F/T, I developed coverage of the logistical and service aspects of the furniture industry as well as following the occasional, home office and home entertainment categories. In April 2018 I took over the upholstery category, with responsibility for coverage of the fabric and leather stationary and motion upholstery, recliners and massage chair categories.
