The loss of a major customer forces SP Clothing, the jersey manufacturer for the National Hockey League (NHL), to restructure its activities and, in doing so, cut the equivalent of 20% of its staff.
Already around thirty employees from the company’s manufacturing, maintenance and administration departments have already been laid off in Saint-Hyacinthe. By April 5, the same fate will await 16 other tailors from its Val-des-Sources (formerly Asbestos) facilities, which the company is forced to close.
“We had no choice,” its executive director, Tania Berlinguette, explained to the Journal, who refused to identify the client who failed them. He was a very important client; as soon as we found out (in January), we had to make difficult decisions. In the end, 50 people will have failed.”
Management remains vague on the reasons that could explain the loss of this major customer. Ms. Berlinguette limits herself to explaining that the competition is fierce, that she gives no quarter, and that the central-Quebec company, long located in Granby, sees itself poorly equipped to retain a client, ready for compromise on the quality of the products purchased.
We will remember that SP Clothing reached an agreement with Adidas in 2017 to purchase the activities of the Sport Maska factory in Saint-Hyacinthe. The amount of the transaction, said to be several million dollars, has never been revealed.
The company of some 280 employees is today majority owned by its president, Steve Bérard.
Ms. Berlinguette maintains that despite the difficulties, Clothing SP remains in good financial health and rules out recourse to measures aimed at protecting itself from possible creditors. Fanatics, Nike, Adidas and other major brands remain customers of the company.
“I assure you that our sales teams are hard at work and that we are doing everything in our power to recover from this situation,” says the director. And if everything goes as desired, we will be able to recall our employees as soon as possible.”