ST LOUIS - Heritage Home Group will shutter two Thomasville Furniture factories and a Lane Furniture operation as part of the firm's restructuring, and less than three months after it took over the former Furniture Brands International companies. Approximately 564 employees will be laid off.

Ira Glazer, Heritage Home Group president and CEO, informed employees of the layoffs yesterday. According to various news sources, 480 people will be impacted by the closure of the Lane Furniture plant in Saltillo, MS. The Thomasville closures at plants C and C-Area 100, will affect 84 employees. The facilities are scheduled to close March 21.

"Unfortunately, this permanent closure will mean the end of all operations and all employees at these locations will be discharged," Glazer said in the Jan. 21 letter.

"These reductions are unfortunately a necessary element of our ongoing efforts to create a highly competitive organization structure," Glazer wrote. "That said, we are proud that many jobs saved by the formation of Heritage Home and the acquisition of our brands far exceeds the number that are being let go."

According to the Winston-Salem Journal, Heritage Home Group will retain the Lane plants in Belden and Verona, MS. Thomasville Furniture's operations will be consolidated into its other plants.

Heritage Home Group parent KPS Capital acquired the Thomasville Furniture, Lane Furniture, Broyhill, Drexel Heritage, Henredon, Hickory Chair, Pearson, Maitland-Smith, Lane Venture and La Barge brands, when it purchased Furniture Brands International's assets for $280 million. The transaction, along with the formation of Heritage Home Group as the new name, was finalized in November.

In related news, Heritage Home Group has created a merchandising group to direct product development across all brands. According to an article in Furniture Today, the company named Paul Peters its new senior vice president of merchandising. Peters was previously the vice president of merchandising of Furniture Brands' wholesale group and a former vice president of upholstery at Broyhill.

In addition, former Broyhill president Mark Stephens was named senior vice president of wholesale sales for Lane, Thomasville, and Broyhill. Former Lane Venture president Gary McCray will be senior vice president sales designer responsible for Hickory Chair, Henredon, Drexel, Lane Venture, Maitland-Smith, Pearson and LaBarge. Kathy Veltri, formerly president of Thomasville, is now senior vice president of retail. Ray Johnson will continue as COO and lead the operations group.