LEXINGTON - Stanley Furniture Co. plans to close its Lexington factory in Davidson County, south of Winston-Salem, and eliminate about 350 jobs over the next several months.

The Virginia company is cutting costs as the economic slowdown hurts demand for home furnishings. Stanley is the latest furniture maker to announce job cuts in North Carolina, amid foreign competition and weaker sales.

"Historically low levels of consumer confidence, housing activity and personal disposable income have led to an industrywide weakness in consumer demand for residential furniture not seen since the early '80s," Stanley CEO Jeffrey R. Scheffer said in a prepared statement.

Some production in Lexington will shift to a Stanley factory in Robbinsville, on the western border of the state. That move is expected to create about 200 jobs in Robbinsville over the next couple of years, the company said.

Some employees in Lexington will be eligible for positions at the Robbinsville factory.

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