According to an article on the RepublicanHerald.com, president and CEO of FesslerUSA, Walter Meck, announced last week that the garment company would be closing its doors at the end of this week. The company made it’s home here in Schuylkill County for 112 years.
Fessler had employed 130 people including office staff, sales employees, knitters, sewers and operators, and made underwear, tees, and tops. But recently it has been working with a skeleton crew as workers were laid off or found other jobs.
The company is being liquidated and all of its machinery will be dismantled and sold. All equipment is expected to be gone from the facility by January 2013, with most of it going overseas.
Although the retail market didn’t collapse, Meck said in the article that it did dramatically cut down all around the country. They could not find support from a government agency for small businesses.
Contributing factors to the company’s closing included weak consumer spending, competition from China and the Far East, and lack of interest from private investors and potential buyers.
In the article, one employee is quoted as saying, “It’s been a good company to work for all the years that I’ve been here. I never thought that I’d be here when it closed.”
We’re sorry to see this longtime Schuylkill County company close, and we wish the best for the employees.If you are a FesslerUSA employee with a work injury and have been laid off, you may qualify for compensation. Contact our law office for a free review of your case.