CARROLLTON, Texas — Read this story and more North Texas business news from our partners from the Dallas Business Journal
A vinyl window manufacturer recently closed a plant in Carrollton, impacting around 260 employees. Some were laid off, and around half were given transfers to a Dallas location.
Houston-based Westlake Royal Building Products USA Inc. closed its facility, located at 1813 Kelly Boulevard, which is a part of Beltline Business Center, on May 4. As many as 125 impacted workers were offered a similar position at the company’s nearby facility at 3950 Bastille Road near West Dallas.
Employees were notified of the plant closure March 4, according to a Workers Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice filed with the Texas Workforce Commission. The WARN Act is a federal law that requires covered employers to provide employees and the government a 60-day advance notice of large layoffs.
Workers at the Carrollton facility contributed to the “Legacy” collection, which were “durable and energy-efficient” windows that catered to homeowners, general contractors and architects. The company produced three styles of windows overall, including the Legacy, the Krestmark and the Magnolia.
The Dallas plant produces the Krestmark window line that focuses on natural light. Homeowners, general contractors and architects also consider this style in their projects, according to the company's website.
A spokesperson with the company said the decision to close the plant was not made lightly but was necessary due to “substantial investments … made in optimizing its overall network efficiency and performance.”
After shuttering the Carrollton plant, Westlake Royal Building Products now operates a total of three windows production plants, including in Dallas, Houston and Baldwin, Georgia.
The company says it manufactures “high-quality, low-maintenance products” to meet the needs of building professionals, homeowners, architects, engineers and distributors. In addition to windows and window systems, Westlake Royal also offers siding, trim and mouldings, roofing solutions and decking.
Westlake Royal Building Products is under the umbrella of the broader Houston-based Westlake Corp., which is a global manufacturer and supplier that employs about 16,000 people, with facilities in Mexico, Canada, China, Japan and Vietnam. In Texas, the company operates at least nine plants. In 2023, its total revenue was about $12.5 billion.
One factor in Westlake Royal's scaleback may be that home-remodeling activity, which boomed during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, is tapering off.
Westlake Royal is at least the second major manufacturer in DFW to recently announce plans to close shop and lay off hundreds.
California-headquartered medical scrubs company Careismatic Brands Inc. is closing two Dallas facilities and cutting 404 jobs effective May 31. Careismatic informed the state of plans to close its distribution centers at 35500 Lyndon B. Johnson Freeway and 4715 Mountain Creek Pkwy. in a May 2 WARN letter.
