HOPE MILLS — Rollease Acmeda, a manufacturer and distributor of window coverings, has officially opened a new warehouse site in Hope Mills.
A crowd of about 30 community leaders, local officials and company employees gathered at the facility located at 103 Tom Starling Road on Monday afternoon to celebrate its grand opening, which promises to invest $10 million in the town in real estate and equipment.
The facility is expected to bring about 50 new jobs to the area, according to company officials.
Earlier this summer, Hope Mills considered and approved an economic development incentive — previously referred to by the moniker “Project Shade” — to entice the company to come to the town. Monday’s ceremony marked one of the first instances where the company’s name had been revealed in connection to the Project Shade title, which was first announced in a public hearing notice from the Town of Hope Mills in early June. The Hope Mills Board of Commissioners later voted 3-2 to move forward with the project on June 16.
The town’s incentive offer included an infrastructure grant of $750 per job created, not to exceed $33,750. In order to receive these grant opportunities, Rollease Acmeda was required to meet a job creation requirement of at least 45 new positions, and report infrastructure expenses of more than $67,000. The company also requested a gas line extension, a previously unforeseen expense totaling $67,123. Rollease Acmeda has requested grant funding from Hope Mills to help offset the cost of the project.
The completion of this project has been the work of a partnership between the Fayetteville Cumberland County Economic Development Corporation (FCEDC) and municipal leaders, focusing on bringing new economic opportunities to Cumberland County. Project Shade was originally brought to the attention of the FCEDC by SkyREM, a real estate investment corporation, and Newmark, another real estate corporation that acted as the broker for the facility, according to the FCEDC.
“This project is a great announcement for our manufacturing sector,” FCEDC President and CEO Robert Van Geons said in an email statement. “We want to recognize and thank our friends at SkyREM and Newmark for investing in this building and bringing this company to Hope Mills.”
New opportunities in Hope Mills
Rollease Acmeda, which was founded in 1980, is a major manufacturer and distributor in the window covering industry. Mike Schratz, general manager and senior vice president for the American operations of the company, said that the company employs about 250 people globally.
Rollease Acmeda is a subsidiary of J.M. Family Enterprises, a large, privately held company that deals mostly in the automotive and home improvement industries. J.M. Family Enterprises has an annual revenue of around $20 billion, according to a 2024 Forbes’ list of the country’s top private companies.
The opening of the Hope Mills location consolidates other manufacturing facilities for the U.S. arm of Rollease Acmeda. All manufacturing operations for their window covering components will be moved from Stamford, Connecticut, to the Hope Mills location, according to Schratz. The Hope Mills site will also serve as a main U.S. distribution center for the company.
So, what do they sell?
Rollease Acmeda does not fabricate the window coverings themselves, according to Schratz, but rather assembles important pieces of the equipment, including a piece called a clutch that allows a window shade to function.
The clutch is a set of interlocking plastic gears and metal springs. It attaches to the sides of a window shade, and when a chain is inserted into the system and pulled, the gears turn and allow the shade to move up and down. In addition to the fabrication of these mechanisms, Rollease Acmeda also stocks other components for window coverings, like fabrics.
The company focuses on business-to-business sales rather than selling direct to consumers, Schratz said. They assemble and stock products, which are then sold to a fabricator. A fabricator will assemble the window coverings and then sell those products to a retailer, where consumers can purchase them.
Stocking the components for window coverings allows Rollease Acmeda to act as a one-stop-shop for retailers that create and assemble window shades for the consumer market, Schratz said.
“We are kind of like the Costco of the industry,” Schratz told CityView. “We want to sell in bulk.”
Running the operation
Since the company began building the Hope Mills facility in early April, the town’s new Rollease Acmeda branch has hired 24 people for distribution and 18 for manufacturing, according to Jerry Carter, senior director of operations.
“So far, they have done a fantastic job,” Carter said.
Mayor Jessie Bellflowers also expressed excitement in welcoming the company to Hope Mills, as well as its investment in local economic development and job creation.
“We are fortunate to have a very good pipeline of talented workforce here in the area,” Bellflowers said.