Post by goodwillhunter on Jan 24, 2020 23:33:35 GMT
(Story translated from French via Google Translate)
Closure of the Mega Bloks plant in Montreal: 600 jobs lost
Owned by Mattel since 2014, the Saint-Laurent borough toy factory will close by the beginning of 2021.
(Montreal) Mega Bloks that delight children around the world will no longer be made in Montreal. The vast Saint-Laurent plant will close next fall, La Presse learned. The result: nearly 600 job losses. The production of small plastic bricks created in 1967 will be transferred to China and Mexico to other factories of the Mattel group, owner of Mega Brands since 2014. "We need to lower the cost of products," said Bisma Ansari, senior vice president of Mega Brand (Mattel), in a telephone interview. Mattel says he decided to "consolidate" its manufacturing operations in "an effort to maximize the efficiency of [its] global supply chain." The multinational believes that its "global capacity" is currently "underused". The Montreal factory alone produces 60% of the Mega Bloks sold around the world. Mattel assures that the dismissed workers will receive severance pay and assistance. In 2015, the company told La Presse that its built-in bricks cost it "30 to 50% less" to manufacture in Montreal than in China thanks to significant investments in cutting-edge equipment. Ms. Ansari did not want to compare current production costs in Montreal with those in China or Mexico. As a result, it was impossible to know the average salary of the 580 non-union workers who will be dismissed. Mattel assures them that they will receive severance pay and assistance. The 800,000 square foot plant will be closed "in phases", beginning in September and beginning of 2021.
Headquarters maintained
The manufacturer of the famous Barbie, Hot Wheels cars and the Fisher-Price range has however chosen to keep the Montreal headquarters of Mega Brands. Some 230 people work there, in particular in product design and development. The company says "these high value-added jobs are crucial to the development of product lines." Mega Brands, which is a tenant in its large premises in the borough of Saint-Laurent, plans to keep the equipment of its factory. Mattel took over the Montreal business in 2014 for US $ 460 million (C $ 510 million at the time). Listed on the NASDAQ, the toy manufacturer made a net loss of US $ 533 million on sales of US $ 4.5 billion for its fiscal year ended December 31, 2018. The results for the fiscal year ended December 31 will be known on December 13 next February. Mega Brands was founded in 1967 by Victor Bertrand and his wife Rita. The company was originally called Ritvik Toys. In 2002, it adopted the name of its flagship product Mega Bloks, before becoming Mega Brands in 2006. In 2013, the owners lobbied for $ 50 million from Quebec to build a new factory. A year later, they sold to the giant Mattel.
