Ashley Furniture has formally opened a 175,000 square foot expansion at its upholstered operation in Ecru in north Mississippi.

The Ecru facility now has 2.4 million square feet, said Ashley chairman and founder Ron Wanek, who participated in Thursday’s dedication.

The plant has 3,000 workers.

“This is the biggest upholstery production plant in the nation by far, and we’re proud to be here in Ecru,” said Wanek said.

Ashley CEO Todd Wanek noted that when the company bought the facility in 1994, it was about 135,000 square feet and had 135 employees.

Ashley also has a motion furniture plant in Ripley that employs another 900.

“We have a wonderful management group and great employees,” Todd Wanek said. “We’ve invested in our plants and in our people … we’ve learned to make things better.”

The Arcadia, Wis.-based company’s upholstered furniture accounted for some $1.2 billion in sales alone last year.