Shop-Vac abruptly closes shop
Shop-Vac has abruptly closed its three facilities in Williamsport, Pa. and laid off more than 400 employees.
The manufacturer of wet/dry vacuums and accessories used for residential, commercial and industrial uses notified employees on Sept. 15 that company was closing all of its facilities in Williamsport, according to a report by PennLive.com.
The company filed a WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) notice with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry and said that 427 employees are impacted by the decision.
Shop-Vac pointed to a potential sale of the company falling through as a major trigger for the closure.
In the WARN notice, Shop-Vac stated, “We regret that we were unable to provide you with more notice.”
"The current global pandemic and economic crisis has left the Company in dire financial conditions. The Company accordingly had been negotiating the sale of the business as a going concern, which, if such sale has been completed, would have enabled us to stay in business and continue the employment of employees. We fully anticipated the sale to be completed and for the buyer to hire all employees. Unfortunately, the buyer without warning walked away from the deal. Such unforeseeable business circumstance has left us with no choice but to close our facilities,” the manufacturer said.
As of Sept. 18, Shop-Vac had taken down its website, shopvac.com, along with its social media presence on Facebook and Twitter.
Shop-Vac could not be reached by HBSDealer for comment.