Kangol struggling after returning jobs to U.S.
Venerable hatmaker feels financial strain after shipping manufacturing out of China to Pennsylvania factory
ADAMSTOWN, PA.— If home is where you hang your hat, Kangol is struggling to afford its pricey new U.S. digs. When the famous hat brand worn by celebrities like Samuel L. Jackson, Brad Pitt and Gwen Stefani moved into a Pennsylvania factory last year from China, executives with the Bollman Hat Co. billed it as an effort to create U.S. manufacturing jobs.
But as labour costs went up, profits went down. Way down. The 149-year-old company behind Kangol says it’s losing money on every kangaroo-logo cap knitted at its factory in Adamstown, 96 kilometres west of Philadelphia.
“It has been certainly a bigger challenge than what we could’ve ever dreamed,” said Don Rongione, Bollman’s fedora- wearing president and CEO.
The nation’s oldest hatmaker expects a relatively quick turnaround once U.S. workers get better at making the popular Kangol caps. But Bollman’s early struggles with Kangol help illustrate why the labour-intensive garment industry left the United States in the first place.
NEW YORK— Kellogg Co. is shuttering distribution centres across the nation and cutting more than 1,000 workers, as it follows through with a costcutting plan amid falling sales.
The company notified agencies in several states of the closures this week.
Earlier this year, the maker of Frosted Flakes, Pop Tarts and Eggo waffles said it would close nearly 40 distribution centres and use a warehouse system.
The Battle Creek, Mich.-based company will shut down a distribution centre in Memphis and lay off 172 workers. It will close a centre in Sharonville, Ohio, and lay off nearly 250 employees.
Other closings include centres in Houston and Fort Worth, Texas, affecting 420 workers.
Facilities in Charlotte and Greensboro, N.C, will also close, affecting 500 workers.