Backyard Products To Consolidate Operations To Canton Facility

CANTON, GA — Backyard Products, a leading marketing and manufacturing company of outdoor structures (play, sheds) recently announced that it is consolidating all of its play operations into a new 220,000-square-foot facility in Canton. The Play division includes Swing-N-Slide, PlayNation, and Gorilla branded play sets and accessories.

Currently, Backyard’s play operations are spread out between Swing-N-Slide’s operations in Janesville, Wisconsin, and three additional manufacturing/warehouse operations in Canton.

“By the end of this year, we will consolidate all of our Play division activities under one roof in a large new facility in Canton, Georgia, to more efficiently service our customers and improve our long-term competitiveness in the market place,” Thomas van der Meulen, CEO of Backyard Products LLC, said in a release.

As a result of this consolidation, Backyard will phase out of its Janesville, Wisconsin, operations by the end of this year. Van der Meulen said that “Backyard has offered all of its Janesville employees opportunities for employment at its other manufacturing operations in Monroe, Michigan, and Canton, Georgia. We anticipate that at least a third of the work force will be relocating to our other operations. Swing-N-Slide, PlayNation, and Gorilla brands are core to our leadership position in the play industry. We will continue to focus on further growing our market position and brand penetration.”

Marshall Day, chairman of the Cherokee Office of Economic Development, said “we’re proud to have the Play division of Backyard Products headquartered in Canton and look forward to their continued success.”

Backyard Products is headquartered in Monroe, Michigan, and employs approximately 500 employees nationwide through its multiple divisions and 33 branch locations.