Top 40 supplier Gildan (asi/56842) plans to close another production facility.

The Montreal-headquartered vertically integrated manufacturer of apparel basics this month filed a notice with the North Carolina Department of Commerce indicating it plans to close its yarn-spinning plant in Salisbury, NC, by Dec. 8.

“This facility is being closed as part of Gildan’s plan to continue to balance production and inventory levels to drive an efficient and competitive manufacturing platform,” Jim Powers, a Gildan human resources director, told the state.

Gildan’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) indicates that 258 jobs will be affected by the closure. The supplier is offering most employees the opportunity to transfer to another plant in Salisbury, or to others in nearby Mocksville.

“While the Salisbury ring spinning plant will be closed following this reorganization, we are offering the vast majority of impacted employees the opportunity to be transferred to one of our other yarn-spinning facilities in North Carolina, primarily our ring spinning facility located in Mocksville,” Geneviève Gosselin, director and global communications & corporate marketing at Gildan, told JustStyle.

Gosselin said Gildan is offering relocation bonuses and transportation services from Salisbury to Mocksville for those who accept that transfer offer.

Earlier this year, Gildan announced the closure of its San Miguel sewing facility in Choloma, Honduras. Gildan said the decision was made because it must reorganize its basic-apparel sewing production in response to market conditions, global competition and a need to optimize and diversify operations.

The supplier said it established an agreement on financial support and other assistance for the factory’s some 2,700 employees.

In 2022, Gildan also closed a distribution center in Mebane, NC, laying off a reported 128 employees.

Gildan’s largest production hub has been Honduras, but it also operates factories in the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti and Nicaragua. The publication Business North Carolina reported that Gildan employs 45,000 people globally.

It’s been tough sledding this year financially for Gildan. For the first six months of 2023, Gildan’s total global sales – which include business with the promo products market and other channels – declined 7.6% year over year to about $1.54 billion. During first half of the year, the firm generated adjusted net earnings of $193.9 million – a 36% year-over-year drop.

Based on estimated 2022 North American promo product industry revenue of $762.2 million, Gildan ranked fifth on Counselor’s most recent list of the largest suppliers in the industry.