MasterBrand Cabinets Closing Plant in Martinsville - FOX 21/27 WFXR Roanoke/WWCW Lynchburg News, Weather

MasterBrand Cabinets Inc. announced Friday it will be closing its plant in Martinsville as it realigns its operations.

A spokesperson for the Indiana-based company says 335 employees will be affected.

"We understand this decision will have a difficult impact on our employees," said Greg Stoner, President of MBCI. "We appreciate their dedication and hard work, and this decision should in no way negatively reflect upon their performance."

MBCI says the Martinsville plant is one of four identical plants in North America that produce its "semi-custom cabinetry," a product geared toward the remodeling industry -- and because of the slow remodeling market, it needed to consolidate operations to stay competitive.

A spokesperson says the decision to close the Martinsville plant was based largely on geography, since its other plants are closer to its client base.

"Regrettably, MBCI continues to be impacted by an uneven recovery in the highly discretionary home remodel market," said Stoner. "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 through a recovery in this market."