Wilkinson says Shaw probably redeploys more than your average industrial company. That assertion is backed by Shaw's lead consultant Bob Woods of Atlanta-based CFG Consulting, whose client list for state tax and

Looking south from 2nd St. in downtown South Pittsburg. The reopened Shaw plant is just down the street from downtown.

financial incentives includes Coca-Cola, Tyco International and United Technologies Corp.
   Woods says such factors as ceiling height, HVAC and dock configuration usually lead companies to sell closed plants. But in this case, the spinning operation was not that old, meaning some of the nuts and bolts of the facility could be reused. "It makes a lot of sense if you're trying to get something to market and keep the costs down," he says. "It also helps the distribution side – a manufacturing facility doesn't need to have a large distribution center right there. The product can be sent to the regional distribution center or directly to a customer."
   Woods says the South Pittsburg project is an anomaly against a backdrop of textile mills literally selling off their hardwood floors piece by piece or going way outside the box for other uses.
   "The governor of South Carolina the other day announced a new incentive related to textile plants being converted into malls," says Woods with a rueful chuckle. "A number aren't being used right now, and this is a good project because they're using an existing facility that didn't have anything going on, and using it for a new product."
   The trend is still toward more closure and consolidation than reuse, but Woods says that may change.
   "There is a lot of plant capacity out there, and states are trying to push companies to buy an existing facility and reuse it," he says. "Companies are still in the mindset that they try to get rid of real estate as opposed to reuse it. Will it change? I think it will. But I think other industries will buy the facilities and use them, rather than an existing company reusing it. The reason Shaw could do this was they could reuse it in a new process. Typically the market share has already been capitalized on unless you come up with a new product."