Mastercraft Furniture Inc., previously celebrated for providing American manufacturing jobs, aims to declare Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
BY JACOB PALMER | DIGITAL NEWS EDITOR
Mastercraft Furniture Inc., previously celebrated for providing American manufacturing jobs, aims to declare Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
The Stayton furniture maker lists $516,000 in assets and $6.8 million in liabilities, according to OregonLive.com.
In a statement, owner Marty Olson said: “We have been particularly proud to show that U.S. manufacturers can be competitive with overseas producers. Mastercraft has provided good jobs to the people of Stayton and the surrounding area, and we are devastated that the business we have worked so hard to build has to close its doors.”
The company blamed the shutdown on a dispute with one of its suppliers. Mastercraft in August sued a vender, Michigan-based SABA North America, saying the glue it supplied didn’t meet Ikea’s standards. The lawsuit is still pending.
Ikea, Mastercraft said in a court filing, rejected a shipment of furniture and canceled future orders when glue in the products tested positive for a banned chemical. Ikea is now one of Mastercraft’s largest creditor, with an claim of $2.95 million. The company expanded to great fanfare in 2012, when it secured the Ikea contract. It relocated from Wilsonville to Stayton, southeast of Salem, and quadrupled its payroll to 158 employees.
In January, the company furloughed a high percentage of its workforce. At the time, President Marty Olson blamed strife at West Coast ports. According to the OregonLive.com story, those workers have returned to their posts.
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