Orian to End Rug Manufacturing; Yarn Division Expects to Grow
Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer
After 46 years in operation, Orian Rugs will produce its last rug by early summer.
Staff reductions have already been going on for several months, so the closing of the rug factory will mean the loss of approximately 30 jobs, some of whom might be transitioned to the yarn division.
Orian is ramping up production at the Innovation Yarns division on site, which currently has more than 40 employees and could expand in the future.
Scott Dahl, president and CEO of SP Orian said the yarn business has been growing “like crazy.” Orian produces yarns not only for rugs and carpet manufacturers, but yarns for weather stripping, house wraps, automotive materials, sofas, chairs and outdoor furniture.
Dahl said while the demand for yarns continues to grow, the rug business and overall home décor market has been depressed for some time and never really recovered after the COVID pandemic. Then came inflation, an election year and now tariffs to add to the challenge to produce and sell rugs domestically.
“Unrelenting import pressure” also added to the decline in the rug market, said Dahl, who added that with competition from imported rugs, “not that many customers care that it’s made in America.”
The S.C. 81 North property is also home to the Orian Rug Factory Outlet, which will remain open for the foreseeable future due to a healthy inventory of rugs.
Orian, established in 1979 by Belgian entrepreneur Lucien Vanwynsberghe in a 50,000 square-foot-building on pasture land at S.C. 81 North near Oak Hill Drive, with the assistance of Anderson Judge Goetz Eaton, who assisted Vanwynsberghe in getting acclimated to the area and even allowed the manufacturer to live at his home while he launched his business.
Orian expanded over the decades to more than half a million square feet, and has been a major player in the United States rug and yarn industry with an earned a reputation for producing high-quality, American-made decorative area/scatter rugs and yarns.
In 2022 all of the Orian business, including rug and specialized yarn manufacturing operations, was acquired by Sage Park, a global operations-focused acquisition group. For now, the company is expected to continue to lease some of the space at the facility to other businesses as it phases out rug production.
