Sep. 7—HIGH POINT — A local company that dates to the 1890s plans to drop its core business and leave its south High Point campus.
Alderman Co. President Jeff Williams said Wednesday that demand for its marketing and advertising services has sharply declined, while competition from China has taken a toll on its commercial photography studio work.
As a result, the company will get out of the marketing business and transition to a "consulting and strategy firm," he said.
The Alderman name will continue with the new business, but the company plans to exit its 225,000-square-foot facility by Oct. 31, Williams said.
The company plans to let most of its 50 employees go by then through layoffs and attrition.
"I can't speak for our employees, but a notable portion of them — they've loved their time at Alderman and they've had lengthy careers here, and they will just choose to retire," Williams said. "This is a very organized plan to transition out of traditional commercial photography. Unfortunately, that does mean that, over the next several weeks, folks will be looking for other employers."
The company is working with the affected employees to help them find new jobs, he said. In addition, during the transition, Alderman will finish all of its currently scheduled client projects.
Williams said that over the past five years, Alderman clients in a variety of industries haven't had as many photography needs because of a steep decline in new product introductions.
At the same time, he said, photography business has been lost to studios in China and computer-generated-imaging, or CGI, content creators.
"That's a massive sea change," Williams said.
The company has no debt and is not taking these steps because of financial pressures, he said.
Alderman sold its 18.6-acre campus at 325 Model Farm Road to an Illinois real estate investment firm in July for $8.7 million.
Williams said he plans to provide more information on the company's future location and operations later this fall.
The company was started by Sidney Alderman in High Point in 1898.
pkimbrough@hpenews.com — 336-888-3531