Triad.

• Position: REGIONAL REPORT

Nothing is cushy about furniture jobs

Moving its headquarters from Lexington was just the start of changes at furniture maker Lexington Home Brands. Soon after the company landed in Thomasville, Bob Stec resigned after four years as president and CEO. Stec, 51, says he wants to spend more time with his family. Lexington's parent, Boca Raton, Fla.-based Sun Capital Partners, hired management consultant Asher Lepkin as interim CEO. The furniture maker also planned to lay off all but about 30 of the 115 employees at its Lexington plant at the beginning of this month. That will leave it with about 450 employees overall, including about 100 at its headquarters and about 200 at an upholstery factory in Hildebran.

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HIGH POINT -- Russell Turner, a Thomasville, Ga.-based licensee of Ashley Furniture Industries, opened a warehouse here for five furniture stores he plans to build in or near the Triad. When fully staffed, it will employ about 50 and supply stores that will open in Greensboro this month, Winston-Salem by the end of the year, Burlington and Danville, Va., in late 2007 and Mount Airy in 2008. Arcadia, Wisc.-based Ashley had sales of $2 billion last year.

MATKINS -- Enbasa USA, part of Spanish textile maker Enbasa Laval, opened a factory here. It employs 24 people making mattress ticking. Average pay is $534 per week; the Caswell County average is $421. Enbasa USA is based in Spartanburg, S.C.

EDEN -- Dutch textile maker Innofa will close a plant in nearby Reidsville in October and open a larger one here that will employ about 105 by 2011. The company makes fabric for mattresses, furniture, automobile seats and medical supplies. It asked its 30 employees in Reidsville to transfer to Eden.

THOMASVILLE -- Beginning in November, Thomasville Furniture Industries won't wait to introduce products at the twice-a-year...