Huntingdon Mills casualty of currency, competition

By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 12/21/2004 12:42:00 PM

HUNTINGDON, Quebec — Huntingdon Mills, a producer of fleece and jacquard pile fabrics used in outerwear and throws headquartered here, has closed its doors for good, hard hit by a weakening U.S. dollar, a strengthening Canadian dollar and the rising threat of Chinese imports when quotas fall on Jan. 1.

The shutdown put 250 workers out of a job in this small town dominated by textiles about 44 miles southwest of Montreal .

And Huntingdon was just the latest blow to hit this textiles-themed community, following word that another producer, Cleyn and Tinker Mills, a producer of uniforms and apparel, will close its plants in April, shifting production to the United States . Combined, the two companies represented about 800 jobs in this community of about 2,600.