Shermag closing four plants in Quebec, New Brunswick
-- Furniture Today, 12/10/2007 6:28:00 AM
Another four plants remain in operation
SHERBROOKE, Quebec — Canadian case goods and upholstery producer Shermag has announced that it is closing four of its eight plants due to business pressures.
The plants slated for closure are in Bishopton and Cookshire-Eaton, Québec, and in Edmundston and Saint-François-de-Madawaska, New Brunswick.
The closures will affect 320 employees, reducing Shermag’s total work force to 750. Measures will be taken to assist employees who are losing their jobs, according to the company.
Shermag officials added that they are in the process of deciding where to produce the furniture collections that have been manufactured at those facilities.
The decision to close the four plants was made after an analysis by a committee of Shermag’s board of directors, created on Nov. 20. The committee is responsible for identifying measures to return Shermag to profitability and ensure its long-term viability.
“It is with the utmost regret that the company is forced to take such measures,” said. Claude Pichette, chairman of the board. “Shermag’s situation is part of the crisis (with which) the Canadian manufacturing industry is dealing.
“The effect of factors such as the continued strengthening of the Canadian dollar, the crisis of the mortgage loans in the United States and its effect on furniture sales, as well as Asian competition, force Shermag to take strict measures such as the plant closures to return to profitability as quickly as possible.”
In November, Jeff Casselman resigned as president and CEO of Shermag. The company is searching for a replacement.
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