By Kristen George-Poland

FORT MILL -- After 120 years of manufacturing in South Carolina, bedding and textiles company Springs Global announced Wednesday it will close two manufacturing plants within the state, leaving about 750 South Carolina residents without jobs.

Both the Grace Finishing and Grace Fabrication facilities in Lancaster and the Close Plant in Fort Lawn will close around Aug. 31, affecting about 540 employees at Grace and 210 employees at Close. A distribution and warehouse operation at Grace will continue to operate. It employs about 150 people.

The Grace facilities, in operation since 1948, produce finished bed fabrics and sheets. The Close Plant, built in 1989, makes comforters and bedding accessories.

Crandall Bowles, co-chairman and co-CEO of Springs Global, ascribed the closings to the struggling textile industry within the United States.

“The closing of these plants reflects the global nature of the textile industry, which has made U.S. textile manufacturing uncompetitive,” said Bowles, a great-great granddaughter of the company’s founder Samuel Elliott White. “Though inevitable for the company, this move is a sad and difficult one for my family and the people and communities involved. We would like to express our deepest appreciation to all the associates for their years of commitment and productive efforts for this company."

The closings come about a year after Springs Industries completed a merger with its Brazilian partner, Coteminas, creating Springs Global and moving much of the company’s production to Brazil including its parent company headquarters, Springs Global Participações S.A., which is the world’s largest manufacturer and marketer of textile home furnishings.

U.S. Rep. John Spratt Jr., D-S.C., said the decline of the textile industry in the United States stems from the phasing out of quotas affecting textile and apparel imports, per the 1993 World Trade Agreement.

“Unrestrained by quotas, China, India and most of Asia, are now shipping huge quantities of textile and apparel to the United States,” Spratt said. "Over the 24 years that I have served in Congress and fought for the textile industry, I always thought that the top firms, firms like Springs, would have to adjust but would eventually prevail. I am saddened to see Springs decide that it must adjust by closing the Grace (facilities) in Lancaster and the Close plant in Fort Lawn.”

Indications of the plant closings came last year when more than 1,000 jobs were cut at the South Carolina facilities. As recently as the mid-1990s, the company, which was founded in 1887, held a dominant presence within the state, employing more than 15,000 South Carolinians.

After the closings, Springs will employ about 700 people in South Carolina, primarily at two distribution facilities in Lancaster and Fort Lawn, and two sales and administrative offices in Fort Mill.