Governor Barnes Announces South Georgia Distribution Center; American Signature Furniture Distribution Center to Employ 250

Furniture World Magazine

Governor Roy E. Barnes today announced that American Signature Furniture is opening a 278,000-square-foot distribution center in Thomasville's Plantation Oak Industrial Park. The center will employ about 250 in shipping, receiving, maintenance and administration. "American Signature is helping revitalize Thomasville and Thomas County," said Gov. Barnes. "This distribution center is creating a significant number of news jobs and this company is making a real investment in the community." American Signature is renovating the former Heilig-Meyers Distribution Center. Once fully operational in November, the center will hold at least $15 million worth of inventory, mostly dining room and bedroom furniture from the American Signature line. The company cites the OneGeorgia Authority grant program for attracting it to Thomas County. "I'm very pleased to be in the area," said Clarence Vinson, the center's general manager. "We're looking forward to being a good neighbor in the community. Furniture held in the Thomasville distribution center will be trucked out of the city to about 60 new American Signature Homes retail stores -- located in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and South Carolina. "I have to thank the Thomasville-Thomas County Chamber of Commerce and the city and county governments for making this announcement possible," said R.K. Sehgal, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism. "They were all invaluable in successfully negotiating this business location." The Georgia Department of Industry, Trade & Tourism is the state's sales and marketing arm, the lead agency for attracting new business investment, encouraging the expansion of existing industry, locating new markets for Georgia products, attracting tourists to Georgia, promoting the state as a location for film and video projects, as well as planning and mobilizing state resources for economic development.