Bag maker works in new digs
Vera Bradley quilting own goods at New Haven plant
FORT WAYNE – Pink, red and blue paisley fabrics flowed through dozens of sewing machines as workers assembled Vera Bradley Designs Inc.’s signature quilted handbags.
Community leaders had a chance Tuesday to tour the New Haven plant where the company is manufacturing thousands of quilted handbags and other items.
The Fort Wayne-based company has hired 310 employees to quilt, cut and sew material at the Adams Center Road plant, which opened in April.
Vera Bradley still is hiring sewers for the plant, but spokeswoman Melissa Schenkel said she was unsure how many.
The privately held company does not disclose wages.
The company had planned to invest about $2.2 million to equip and furnish the plant, the Fort Wayne-Allen County Economic Development Alliance said in a statement when the plant was announced last year. Landlord Hanning & Bean Enterprises Inc. agreed to invest $2 million to renovate the 125,356-square-foot plant to the tenant’s specifications.
The former Nishikawa Standard Co. auto parts plant has enough space for Vera Bradley to continue growing, Chief Operating Officer Jill Nichols said. Vera Bradley plans to buy two more quilting machines for the plant, which already can produce more than 1,400 yards of quilted material a day. The company declined to disclose the machines’ cost.
Suppliers used to make the handbags and other goods produced in the New Haven plant. Three area suppliers announced in March 2008 they would cut more than 500 sewing jobs as Vera Bradley brought its sewing staff in-house.
About 50 of the New Haven plant’s employees previously worked for Vera Bradley suppliers, Schenkel said.
Having an in-house sewing staff allows the company to carefully control product quality, Nichols said, and having the plant near the corporate headquarters makes the production more responsive to consumer demand.
Sewing lines “can be changed at a minute’s notice to another style or pattern that is selling better,” she said.
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