Case goods maker Baronet closes
Weak retail, strong Canadian dollar led to losses
Michael J. Knell -- Furniture Today, November 14, 2007
SAINTE-MARIE De BEAUCE, Quebec — Contemporary case goods specialist Baronet has closed its doors, a victim of a weakening retail environment throughout North America and a surging Canadian dollar.
“After operating at a loss for nearly two years and despite added productivity from business restructuring efforts, Baronet Inc. and Baronet USA have been forced to seek protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act,” the company said in a statement. The CCAA is Canada’s counterpart to the U.S. bankruptcy code.
All 145 employees of the 65-year old producer have been laid off and the factory here is closed.
“We can’t say it’s going to reopen at this time,” company spokesman Thierry Audin said in a telephone interview. “Everything that can be done to restructure the business is being done.”
He cited the closure of several important customers — including Up Country, a three-unit high-end retailer in Toronto — as well as the sharp rise in value of the Canadian dollar over the past two years as major factors in Baronet’s operating losses.
“It was a combination of all these factors,” Audin said.
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