By Jessie Burchette

jburchette@salisburypost

CHINA GROVE — Hanesbrands Inc. will close its plant here next month, with 185 people losing their jobs.

The announcement came late Tuesday, with the company based in Winston-Salem citing a declining need for higher end ring-spun yarn produced at the facility.

Don Bringle, mayor of China Grove, worked at the mill for 27 years and said Tuesday that speculation about the China Grove plant had increased since Hanesbrands closed the Gastonia plant more than a month ago.

"It couldn't come at a worse time with the economy being what it is," Bringle said. He was vice president of manufacturing in 2000 when his job was eliminated. Bringle is now director of the county's parks and recreation department.

Employees will be eligible for severance benefits and career transition assistance. Hanesbrands also will apply on behalf of employees to the federal government for U.S. Trade Adjustment Act assistance consideration, according to a press rerelease from the company.

Hanesbrands, a global consumer goods company, is a leading maker of apparel including T-shirts, bras, panties, men's underwear, children's underwear, socks, hosiery and casualwear. Brands include Hanes, Playtex, L'eggs and Bali.

The 502,000-square-foot plant at 308 E. Thom St. makes the yarn used to make certain socks, underwear and T-shirts.

"Hanesbrands must realign its capacity to reflect lower consumer demand for higher-end, ring-spun garments in the current economic climate," said Ron Gburek, Hanesbrands vice president of operations. "We regret the need to close this facility and the effect it will have on our employees and the community, but this action is necessary in this challenging environment."

"The China Grove plant is a well-run operation with a skilled and dedicated workforce, and this decision is in no way a reflection of their work quality," Gburek said. "We will do everything we can to assist our employees in this transition."

Hanesbrands will seek to sell the plant property after the production shutdown is complete.

Hanesbrands will continue yarn production operations in Mountain City, Tenn.; Rabun Gap, Ga.; Galax, Va.; and Sanford N.C.

Hanesbrands also announced Tuesday that it will eliminate 210 positions in management and corporate functions to reduce costs.

In September, Hanesbrands announced plans to close nine plants across five countries and cut 12 percent of its workforce, about 8,000 workers, as it restructures its operations in order to cut costs.

Hanesbrands, which was spun off from the foodmaker Sara Lee Corp. in 2006, has about 50,000 employees in 25 countries. Since the spinoff, the company has focused on restructuring its business, cutting jobs, closing plants and distribution centers, and moving production sites to Asia and Central America.

In October, Hanesbrands announced its net income fell 59 percent from a year ago. Its sales were unchanged at $1.15 billion.

The 2008 Rowan County Chamber of Commerce listing of top employers released in September cited Hanesbrands for increasing employment by 25 since 2007 to 195.

The closing of the plant founded as China Grove Cotton Mills will leave two textile mills operating in south Rowan — Tuscarora Yarns in China Grove and Parkdale in Landis.

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