Plan to Reopen Hanesbrands Distribution Center Makes Sense, According to Professor Mike Lord

Hanesbrands to reopen distribution center with 60 jobs
Reposted from Winston-Salem Journal | by Richard Craver

Increasing consumer demand for Hanesbrands Inc.'s apparel has led the company to reopen a Winston-Salem distribution center for at least three years.

The distribution center is in West Point Business Park near Stratford Road. The center was closed last summer because of reduced product volume. About 240 employees were affected by the shutdown.

However, an 11 percent increase in sales in 2010 has led to a need for more inventory space, spokesman Matt Hall said Tuesday. The company also has a major distribution center at 521 Northridge Park Drive in Rural Hall.

"We will have approximately 60 total employees at the facility – half permanent employees who will move from the Almondridge center in Rural Hall and half temporary employees," Hall said.

The company expects to hire the temporary employees through employment agencies, Hall said. He did not say whether previous Hanesbrands employees at the center will receive consideration in the hiring process.

Hall said the company will begin shipping men's underwear and fleece products out of the center in early May. It began moving inventory into the center last week.

Michael Lord, an associate professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at Wake Forest University, said it makes logistical sense to handle a temporary distribution expansion close to its headquarters.

"The closer distribution is to home, often the easier and more flexible it is to control," Lord said. "This is especially true for sudden or unexpected bumps in sales or other quick changes in operations.

"There are people with relevant experience nearby that may be interested and able to do the work, even if it might be only temporary."

The reopening of the center represents a rare local work-force and production expansion since Hanesbrands spun out of Sara Lee Corp. with great fanfare as the city's third Fortune 500 company in September 2006.

At that time, Hanesbrands had 4,900 employees in Forsyth – nearly 10 percent of its overall work force – and 8,600 in the state.

It now has 2,515 employees in Forsyth County and 3,785 in North Carolina.