Apparel Plant Closing Rocks Southern Town

A N D R E W S, N.C., Jan. 16 -- In an instant, at the end of the workday Friday afternoon, nearly a third of this textile town was unemployed.

The VF clothing factory in Andrews had gone out of business. Of the 1,500 people who live in this town at the foot of the Great Smoky Mountains, about 500 worked at the plant.

Andrews is just one victim in this winter of job loss. On the same day VF shut down its factory, the Ford Motor Company announced it was eliminating 35,000 jobs throughout the company.

But towns like Andrews tend the feel the impact the most.

Mitch Rhinehardt, the town's newly elected mayor, says his little city is in big trouble.

"You can just imagine the problem," he says. "Five hundred people all going to the unemployment office at the same time. This town is out of work, there's no doubt."

There's no doubt on Main Street, where shops began to close months ago when the clothing company first announced it was leaving.

More than half the storefronts are nothing but empty windows. The power company has moved its offices. A local insurance company is gone. So are at least three restaurants.

Richard Moore's clothing store is one of the few businesses left, and even he is leaving.

"By the end of the month, I'll close it out," he explains.

When ABCNEWS stopped by, business in his store was so slow, he didn't have enough change to return to his one customer of the day.

Moving South

The VF Corporation, which owns the plant and describes itself as the world's largest apparel company, says competition has forced the company to move jobs overseas. The company holds more than 25 percent of the U.S. jeans market and makes such brands as Lee, Wrangler and Rustler, according to its corporate Web site.

Already, VF has moved 20,000 jobs to factories in Mexico, Costa Rica and Honduras, where labor is cheaper. Susan Williams, a VF vice-president, explains that closing the Andrews plant was a "very difficult decision."

"But it was necessary," Williams says, "for the long term success of the company."