TAYLORSVILLE, N.C. — A gate just up the hill from Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams in Taylorsville has a sign that says the company has recently and unexpectedly learned it cannot continue business operations.
"They were allowing us to come get our personal items," employee Jessica Parker said.
It was a notice Parker said she read for the first time on Facebook.
"It's pretty surreal, though, meeting your fellow employees packing their things coming out," Parker said.
She spent Tuesday morning packing her belongings and trying to decide what's next.
"We were told that everything was picking up and doing a lot better than it had been in the past several months. We left for the weekend hoping it was going to be the next week same as normal," Parker said.
She says it's an all-too-familiar feeling. Just three years ago, she worked at a different furniture factory in Claremont when that business shut down as well.
"We went on a temporary layoff due to COVID. They kept extending our layoff and eventually after six months permanently laid us off," Parker said.
The business not only shut down the Alexander County facility but also in Statesville and Hiddenite. More than 500 employees lost their jobs.
Jonathan Brown says the doors that now are locked are a reminder of tough times ahead. Brown is in the middle of trying to get custody of his son.
"We were more like family than coworkers. We spent more time here than we did with our family," Brown said.