Lincolnton Furniture Plant Closing

The last 185 people working at the Cochrane Furniture plant in Lincolnton will be laid off next month.

The plant used to employ about 400 people, but it’s slowly downsized over the years. The parent company is now shutting it down.

The workers will join lines of people like Carol Gleeson.

“I've been out looking (for a job) since July,” Gleeson said. “It's very hard. I've had like maybe two interviews.”

Gleeson was laid off from her third job in the last five years. She said she hasn’t had any call backs following the interviews.

The furniture makers will likely also have a hard time finding jobs because few people are hiring, and with good reason, said Bud Boyles. Boyles sells Cochrane furniture at his Lincolnton furniture mart. He said the business isn’t the same anymore.

“I've done business with them since 1961,” he said. “People are starting to not want to spend as much money as they used to.”

He said his business is down about 20 percent, and he’s one of the lucky ones.

The layoffs are bad news at Melmoose on Main Street. Business there has fluctuated because of bouncing gas prices and a few small layoffs.

“When people get laid off, business gets slowed. When gas prices go up, business gets slow there, too,” said Sharon Funderburk, manager of Melmoose.

The store manager said it will be worse now when nearly 200 people charged with "Bringing it home to America," Cochrane Furniture’s slogan, have nothing to bring home for themselves.

“Hard times for family, not just us, but everybody is going to be going through it,” she said.