Officials with the Danbury-CT-based home furnishings retailer say the plants to be closed are located in Dudley, Mass.; Mayville, N.Y. and Union City, Pa. The company said it plans to consolidate the manufacturing operations of the three plants into its 14 other manufacturing facilities. The plant closures affect a total of 584 employees and involve a total of 554,300 sf of manufacturing space.

A company spokesman said that while Ethan Allen will attempt to place some workers at other plants, most of the affected employees will be let go.

All three plants are owned by Ethan Allen. Company officials said that no disposition plans have been formulated for the properties.

Farooq Kathwari, chairman and chief executive officer of Ethan Allen Interiors, says of the decision to shut down the plants, "Over the last several years, we have made substantial investments to expand capacity and increase efficiency in our major manufacturing facilities. This consolidation will enable us to take advantage of these improvements and continue to strengthen and grow our business. We sincerely regret the impact on many of our employees who have had a long association with the company. For the overall long-term viability of the company, we have to make these difficult decisions. We believe this strategy allows us to focus on manufacturing our products in the most suitable plants, in the U.S. or overseas, and gives us the opportunity to operate our remaining 14 U.S. facilities more efficiently."

In relation to the plant consolidation initiative, officials said the company will record an after tax restructuring and impairment charge of between $7.5 million and $9.0 million, or $0.20 to $0.23 per share, the majority of which will be non-cash. Most of the impact on earnings is expected to be in the company's third fiscal quarter, which ends March 31, 2003.