New Moosehead ready to fill orders

MONSON – Moosehead Furniture Co., the new name for the recently purchased Moosehead Manufacturing Co., will mark its re-entry into the U.S. furniture market by celebrating its first shipment this afternoon.

In February, Moosehead Manufacturing Co., the state’s largest furniture maker, closed its plants in Monson and Dover-Foxcroft after 60 years in business and laid off its 126 employees.

In September, Maine State Chamber President Dana Connors, Republican leader of the Maine House of Representatives Josh Tardy and Rhode Island financier Ed Skovron formed a partnership to buy the Moosehead label and the Monson plant.

Two months after the purchase and one month after starting up production, Moosehead Furniture will ship about 40 pieces of bedroom furniture to Stanley Furniture in Rumford. There will be a press conference at the Monson plant today at noon.

In the past month, 16 Moosehead Manufacturing Co. employees have returned to work, including former president John Wentworth and former CFO Dwain Allen. Both still have leadership positions in the new company. The staff has concentrated their efforts on a specialized line of bedroom furnishings, Allen said Wednesday.

“We really had a broad range of products, and we cut that back and really focused on the products that were successful,” Allen said.

By the end of 2008, Moosehead Furniture Co. hopes to have 40 employees on board. It hopes to fill a second order for about 225 pieces of furniture from a business in Rhode Island before Christmas, Allen said.

Tardy and Connors said in a statement issued Wednesday that their first shipment marks a new beginning for Moosehead Furniture.

“We are very encouraged by the enthusiasm of both those selling our furniture line, and our employees who worked with great care to fill their orders,” said Tardy. “It goes without saying the Moosehead brand is alive and well.”