JASPER — Citing the declining demand for wood office furniture, Inwood Office Furniture announced this morning the business will cease operations Nov. 26.
“As the demand for quality wood private office furniture continues to decline, and because we have a committed purchaser for our plant and land, I regret to announce” the closure, company chairman Glen Sturm said in a press release.
Inwood has 85 employees and was incorporated in 1948 as the Jasper Table Company. It also refers to itself as Inwood Office Invironments.
Braun Family Properties LLC will own the plant and land at the corner of East 15th and Cherry streets. The space will be used for the Brauns’ third-party logistics business, which offers supply space and inventory management services to various companies.
The Inwood building will be leased to “anyone that needs to house inventory,” said Mike Braun, owner and president of Jasper-based Meyer Distributing.
Sturm noted in the press release the changes in the economy, work styles and technology have negatively affected the market for Inwood products, and he said those effects have already been felt in the community.
“Beginning in 2009, we hoped the economy would rebound and the market for wood office furniture would return, but the last few years have caused us to believe this will not be the case.”
Sturm said the closing will be “and orderly wind-down.” All employees and vendors will be paid in full, the release said. Sturm declined further comment when reached this morning.
The company’s ability to fund operations the last six years has been “based upon the long-term financial success of our company from the previous years of operation. The changes in our market simply cannot be sustained indefinitely,” Sturm said in the release.
“This has been a very difficult and sad decision to make. For 66 years, this company has been able to be a vibrant source of employment for generations of individuals and families. This has always been our most important and cherished core value. Not being able to continue to provide jobs for local people and their families, and to have the efforts and sacrifices of our people for so many years end without them being able to voluntarily retire with us, will always haunt me.”
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