Ergotron will close former Anthro site in Tualatin, lay off 103

Office furniture company Ergotron plans to close its site in Tualatin and lay off 103 employees, as soon as March, just four years after buying the facility.

Ergotron’s parent, Nortek, acquired Oregon-based Anthro Corp. in January 2015. Anthro made office furniture, including standing desks and movable carts for transporting computer systems around an office or medical facility.

In a letter to state employment officials earlier this month, Ergotron blamed “changing business needs” for the closure. The Minnesota company operates a 120,000-square-foot factory in Tualatin and has a sales office there. 

Ergotron did not immediately respond to inquiries about what specific operations are shutting down. Officials in Tualatin said they had no advance notice of the closure and had not heard from the company about which operations it will shutter.

Founded in 1984 as an offshoot of Tektronix, Anthro became an independent company four years later. It had $38 million in sales in 2014, the last year before its sale. Nortek did not disclose a purchase price.