The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Longtime manufacturing site closing
Spectrum Brands expected to be completely shut down by end of July
The community is saying farewell to a manufacturing site that has been in Painesville for over 50 years.
Last year, Spectrum Brands announced that it was closing the site at 477 Lexington Ave. and would be consolidating operations into a new 600,000-squarefoot facility in Dayton.
David Pritchard, spokesman for Spectrum Brands, which is based in Middleton, Wisconsin, said on June 9 that the planned closure of the Painesville site is on track and on budget, thanks to a dedicated workforce. The last production line recently shut down and there are about 25 employees who are still at the facility.
It began closing in stages starting in April and expected to be completely shut down by the end of July.
Pritchard said that the Global Auto Care division manufactured market-leading products such as STP and Armor All for decades.
Perry resident George Vogel, who worked at the site for 39 years, said he is deeply saddened by its closing.
Vogel started in 1973 and held many jobs, from manual labor to corporate quality control.
Although Vogel’s employment was not impacted by the facility closing, he can relate to those who were because he was laid off about four years ago, he said.
There is a lot of history at that facility and Vogel is known as the company’s historian.
He built an addition to his home that houses floorto-ceiling STP memorabilia.
“It’s like a museum,” he said. “I collected things from the time I started and I just kind of hung on to everything.”
Vogel said STP was once the most popular auto care product.
“In the ‘60s you couldn’t turn on the TV without seeing one of their commercials,” he said.
Vogel has videos of the STP commercials that aired during that time, print ads
and several old products.
“That plant started in 1965 and has been there through many different owners,” he said. “I had a lot of good times there.”
Vogel said he had the opportunity to meet Richard Petty, a renowned former NASCAR driver; attend many races, including the Indianapolis 500; and participated in various car shows while working there.
While STP may not be as popular as it was 50 years ago, it is still a vital part of Spectrum Brands Global Auto Care.
As a result of the Painesville site closing, Pritchard projected that about 70 employees would be laid off. He said severance pay, outplacement services and possible opportunities for relocation for employees would be discussed.
A small group of employees will relocate to Dayton, he said.
In addition to the closing of the Painesville site, multiple operations in multiple states will be a part of the consolidation.
A distribution center in Mentor also will close, but Pritchard said none of the employees are staffed through Spectrum Brands and it is run by a third party.