HOLLAND, Mich. – Workplace furniture manufacturer Fellowes Brands is set to begin shutting down and laying off workers at its Trendway furniture plant, a decision announced in February.

Fellowes will begin laying off 117 workers later this month, with layoffs concluding Oct. 10, according to a company letter to the state of Michigan.

“We are saddened by the impact this decision has on our customers and our valued employees,” John Fellowes, Fellowes CEO. “Unfortunately, Fellowes has now reached the point of exhausting its resources and support while still experiencing meaningful shortfalls to our brand promise and financial responsibility in this area of our business. As difficult as it is, we must face our reality and plan a future which confronts and definitively resolves these challenges.”

In 2019, Fellowes acquired Trendway and provided “significant” investments and support with the goal of enabling needed systems, equipment and process upgrades. Following disproportional investments and an ineffective ERP and WMS implementation in 2023, the company says, it ultimately decided the business was in an “unrecoverable” condition.

In February, Fellowes announced that it would close Trendway and discontinue a portion of its furniture product offering, including systems, case goods, filing, storage and tables. Fellowes said it would continue to accept orders of these discontinued products until June and ship orders through July 2024.

“We are truly grateful for the many employees that have supported this operation, some for decades,” Fellowes continued. “Despite our significant losses in this operation, in the coming months, we will help our employees make their personal transitions in a way that is consistent with our values, and wish each employee impacted the best outcome possible.”

The layoffs of employees will come in six rounds, per Mlive.com:

• May 30: 17 employees
• July 18: 30 employees
• July 25: two employees
• Aug. 22: 34 employees
• Aug. 29: 11 employees
• Oct. 10: 23 employees

Fellowes will continue to serve the contract furniture industry with its line of monitor arms, power solutions, height adjustable tables, desktop lighting, keyboard solutions, organizational products, networked air purification, air quality monitoring and modular walls.

See also:

• Office furniture manufacturer shuts down ‘unrecoverable’ brand
• A look back at all the furniture layoffs and shutdowns of 2023

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