Santa Ana Door Maker to Close Plant, Lay Off Staff

Like Manufacturing Co., a maker of wooden doors, will close its plant here in mid-November, laying off most of its 44 employees.

Chesapeake Industries Inc., the Newport Beach company that owns Like, said 12 to 15 of Like’s employees will move to Anderco Inc., a 45-employee company in Fullerton that makes door products.

The laid-off workers will receive severance pay, said I. Douglas Campbell, president of Chesapeake Industries and Like Manufacturing, and laid-off workers will be given first job priority when business picks up at Chesapeake subsidiaries in Rocklin, Calif., in Placer County.

“We’ll be moving as many people as we can from Like to other Chesapeake operations in California,” he said.

Campbell said Like’s sales began to drop in October, 1990, when the construction industry faltered. Like earned a profit on revenue of about $10 million in 1990, but losses have mounted because of the recession and the housing industry slump.

Chesapeake Industries, which bought Like in 1981, expects to report revenue of $44 million for its fiscal year ended June 30, down 16% from $52.2 million a year earlier.

Chesapeake’s other subsidiaries include Continental Door Inc., a Rocklin manufacturer of doors, primarily for commercial buildings; Forest Products Manufacturing Co., a Rocklin wood-products company, and Southern Door Co., a Pompano Beach, Fla., door manufacturer.