BUSINESS

Pharr sells off textile operations

Adam Orr
aorr@shj.com
Bill Carstarphen, CEO of Pharr Yarns, talks about the history of the company. [JOHN CLARK/THE GASTON GAZETTE]

After 80 years, the McAdenville company known as Pharr Yarns is officially out of the textile business.

Company officials announced Tuesday the sale of multiple divisions to separate companies.

Coats Group, which has its headquarters in London, has agreed to purchase Pharr's High Performance business line.

Mannington Mills, which has its headquarters in New Jersey, will purchase Pharr Fibers & Yarns and Phenix Flooring.

The dual deals are expected to close early next year, Pharr officials said in a release.

"Both companies plan to retain Pharr's workforce and continue operations at its manufacturing facilities in McAdenville and Dalton, Georgia,“ according to the release.

In total, Pharr said it employs some 1,200 employees across five divisions. Company officials spent much of Tuesday hosting meetings with current employees to discuss the sale.

The company will continue its McAdenville Christmas lights tradition, said Bill Carstarphen, president and CEO of Pharr.

The deals have been in the works for years, Carstarphen said.

"We've done well adapting to change and the company is performing financially very well but we had issues in both parts of that business," Carstarphen said.

A quarter century ago, soft flooring made up 70 percent of flooring purchases, Carstarphen said. Today it's around 45 percent.

The company considered acquisitions, though none panned out.

With just a single manufacturing operation, Pharr's High Performance line posed a different problem, Carstarphen said.

The company often scrambled to keep up with orders, forcing its employees to work beyond five days a week, he said.

Pharr began to consider the possibility of selling the operations, "though only if we could find the right fit, which I think we were able to do," according to Carstarphen.

Coats, which Pharr described as the "world's leading industrial thread company," employs more than 18,000 people around the world.

The acquisition of Pharr High Performance increases Coats' North Carolina manufacturing sites to six, including McAdenville, Kings Mountain, Marion, Hendersonville and Charlotte.

Privately held Mannington Mills manufactures products like sheet vinyl, laminate, resilient and hardwood floors, in addition to commercial carpet and rubber.

Mannington Mills President and CEO Russell Grizzle said the purchase of Pharr Fibers & Yarns and Phenix Flooring ensures the long term health of each company's residential business.

"We plan to retain the existing Pharr and Phenix workforce," Grizzle said. "In the coming months as we work on the integration, (employees) will come to know Mannington better and get a better sense of the broader opportunities this acquisition can offer."

Carstarphen said Coats also plans to restart a facility in McAdenville that has been used as a warehouse since 2013.

"It's a facility that we were spinning yarn in for our high performance business," Carstarphen said. "I can't put any kind of timeline on it, but they are going to put equipment back in there again and restart that, which I think is just wonderful news for the community."

For decades, McAdenville has been synonymous with Pharr's family-owned operations.

"When you decide to sell something that's been in the family for 80 years, you're concerned about who the buyer is and how that will affect your people and your community," Carstarphen said. "As difficult as this is, the two companies we've found are extremely complimentary."

He said Pharr would continue its two remaining lines of business, Belmont Land & Investment Co., the real estate arm of the company, and Strand Hospitality Service, which owns several hotels.

You can reach Adam Orr at 704-869-1828.