Days after suit maker Hartmarx was sold to Emerisque and its Indian partner, S Kumars Nationwide Ltd, three US plants of the clothier have been shut resulting in the loss of over 500 jobs.
The Hartmarx factories that have been shut down are in Rock Island in Illinois, employing 300 workers, a plant in Anniston, Alabama, with 175 workers and a shirt factory in Hamilton, Ontario, which had employed about 50 workers.
The city-based suit maker was acquired by UK’s Emerisque Brands and an arm of the Indian apparel company SKNL, North America.
The acquisition was completed last week. The firm has been renamed Hartmarx Operating Co LLC and will be headed by Emerisque’s founder, Ajay Khaitan, who has been instrumental in turning around brands like Eveready and Lee Cooper.
Khaitan would serve as CEO and vice chairman of the new Hartmarx. Former Hartmarx Chairman and CEO Homi Patel retired on July 31, while three other top executives quit the company.
Hartmarx’s sale, which was scheduled to be over in July, had been delayed due to differences between the buyers and creditors over financing details.
Hartmarx, which made suits for President Barack Obama, employed 3,000 people nationwide and 1,000 in Chicago. It had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January and a bankruptcy court had approved its sale to Emerisque and SKNL in June.
