By Alabama Public Radio
Opelika, AL – Two West Point Home textile plants -- in Opelika and Lanett -- will shut down operations later this year. Employees were informed Tuesday. The two plants will close in early November, idling about 700 employees. The move will affect about 370 in Lanett and 325 in Opelika. The two mills were the last two West Point U-S plants where fabric was weaved. Company officials are blaming foreign competition and the increasing costs of raw materials. Alabama is among several Southeastern states to lose thousands of jobs in the textile industry since the mid-1990s.