APRIL 22, 2020 — Original post…
Bristol, Pennsylvania-based Lenox Corporation, the iconic china, and tableware manufacturer, has announced that it will be closing one of the last china manufacturing operations in the United States. The closure of the company's china operations in Kinston, North Carolina, will affect approximately 159 employees.
According to a statement issued by the company CEO, Mads Ryder ...
"The Company must notify you that, at present, the temporary furlough is now expected to be a permanent closing, and the entire manufacturing operating unit will shut down.” "Due to the drastic and unforeseeable economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States, the Company is in extreme financial distress. Sales have dropped dramatically as most, if not all, pending orders have been canceled. Moreover, the Company has not received any significant new orders. At this time, prospects for the future are not encouraging.”
However, the company was already restructuring under Ryder which was brought in November 2018 to reimagine the company's brands and bring them into the digital age. Ryder has stated that the "130-year old brand is 'out of touch, uncool and anachronistically chasing a china-cabinet owning consumer base that’s been fading for decades." It appears that some employees will remain on temporary furlough to allow the company to access government funding and then will be tasked with shutting down the china operations.
Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?