Job cuts at leather goods company
It’s not been a good week for the leather and footwear industries in the States. Following on from news earlier in the week that footwear manufacturer SAS Shoemakers is to close one of its factories in Maine, with the loss of 145 jobs, (see www.leatherbiz.com January 30), leather goods and accessories manufacturer The Buxton Company is now set to cut 65 of 105 jobs at its warehousing and distribution site in Chicopee, Massachusetts. According to local reports the job losses are the result of the company’s decision to reduce the size its warehousing and distribution operations and move them to the West Coast of the USA in order to reduce transportation costs, and as a result of a change in demand for its products. Established in Massachusetts in 1898, although Buxton will retain its headquarters in Chicopee, having already moved all of its manufacturing facilities to China some 25 years ago, this latest decision marks the end of an era for the company.
