<p>Flooring supplier Mohawk Industries is closing two plants and cutting between 175 and 200 jobs, company officials told the Dalton Daily Citizen.</p><p>The company is shuttering Mohawk Home plants in Dalton and Calhoun _ where it is based _ as it gets out of the woven throw, decorative pillow and woven bedspread businesses, said Bill Kilbride, president of the Mohawk Home division. The plants will close within 60 days, and employees will be offered jobs at other Mohawk plants, Kilbride said.</p><p>"We felt that our energies at this point and time were better focused on other core businesses," Kilbride said.</p><p>Mohawk, the world's largest flooring manufacturer, has had slowing sales as new residential construction and redecorating businesses continue to decline in the weak housing sector. The 32,000-employee company is known best for its flooring business, which includes carpet, rugs, tile, hardwood and laminate products.</p><p>Mohawk Home is a 3,000-employee division that began in the late 1990s after the company bought American Weavers and the cotton and jacquard throw division of Crown Crafts. Mohawk Home will continue to produce other products, such as bath mats, door mats and area rugs, Kilbride said.</p><p>The closings are not expected to affect Mohawk's flooring divisions.</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x2de9f04)</p>
