Pendleton Woolen Mills to lay off 43 employees

Pendleton Woolen Mills, famed for its colorful woven blankets, says it is cutting costs and laying off 43 workers as it adjusts to diminished consumer demand.

Many of the permanent layoffs announced Wednesday will come at the 100-year-old company's mill in Pendleton, the Eastern Oregon city for which it is named.

The company also announced pay cuts for all employees earning more than $50,000 a year, although it did not say how large the cuts would be.

The company, based in Portland, employs 900 people nationwide, most of them in Washington and Oregon.

"The prolonged decline in consumer spending has affected all of our channels, including retail, catalog and wholesale," said President Mort Bishop III. "As a result of that, we are forced to look at reducing expenses, streamlining our organization and eliminating redundancies and duplication."

Woolen mills have practically vanished across the United States, but Pendleton has managed to survive. It has crafted commemorative blankets for national parks, furnished blankets for athletes in the Olympics and given one to every president since Warren Harding.

"It's such a recognizable name," Pendleton Mayor Phil Houk told The Oregonian newspaper. "That business provides us name recognition throughout the country. That is part of what the woolen mills is. They provide a quality product and great opportunities."

In Pendleton, the company plans to close a portion of its yarn-making operation, meaning the loss of 20 jobs. That leaves 38 employees in dressing, weaving and sewing operations in the city where the company's blankets have been woven since 1909.

The other layoffs will come from the retail division and corporate office. The company's seven retail stores in Oregon and one in Washington will stay open.

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Information from: The Oregonian, http://www.oregonlive.com