Gardner Gunmaker To Close
City bemoans company's 'quick decision' to shutter plant
The parent company of Gardner gun maker H&R 1871 will close the plant, which employs about 230 people.
Gardner Mayor Mark Hawke called the move by North Carolina-based Remington Arms Co. Inc. a "travesty."
"H&R has always been a profitable company," he said. "Now Remington comes in and they're going to close them."
Hawke also said Remington did not inform local officials about the closing until it made a public announcement. He said the company never contacted Massachusetts agencies that provide support for businesses operating in the state.
Remington announced plans to purchase Marlin Firearms Co. Inc. of North Haven, Conn., which owned H&R, late last year and closed the deal in January.
Quick And Dead
"It's a relatively quick decision" to close the Gardner plant, said Remington Marketing Director Al Russo. Russo said the move will consolidate operations for the company.
"We went through a study of our facilities, and this was a strategic move for us," he said.
Besides the Gardner plant, Remington also manufactures guns at three other sites, in Connecticut, New York and Kentucky. Hawke said he contacted Remington executives after hearing about the closing and was told the company had rejected the idea of closing one of the other plants and moving more production to Gardner.
"If they were to consolidate to Gardner, they would have to spend too much capital to expand the place," he said.
Russo said he could not comment on the mayor's statements. He said he did not have any information about H&R's profitability or whether the company had been in touch with any Massachusetts agencies.
Remington said it will complete the closure by the end of the year, and Hawke said a company official told him the plan is to close sometime between June and September. The company said some employees will transfer to other jobs in the company, and the rest will be offered severance, outplacement and referral services.
H&R, long a major employer in Gardner, was founded in the 1871, and at one time had a plant in Worcester. Marlin bought the company in 2000.
In 2007, Remington reported a net loss of $1.5 million and consolidated net sales of $489 million. According to the company's financial filings, it estimated the total purchase price for Marlin at $47.6 million.
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