VICTOR FORSTMANN INC. CLOSES ITS DOORS

The 60-year-old East Dublin Georgia plant will close its doors next month. Once the counties largest employer, the textile plant is closing “because they lost their biggest customer after a steady decline in business due to foreign competition over the last 15 years.”

The plant was built in 1947 by the J.P. Stevens textile company. It became Forstmann in 1986 and then Victor Forstmann in 1999 when the Quebec-based Victor Woolens bought the bankrupt company. The plant, which employed 1,500 people in the 1990s, now employs 124.

“Major League Baseball's switch to synthetic hats - a decision made to help cut down on sweat in players' eyes - was the ‘final nail the coffin’ for the plant,” said Yves Coderre, chief operating officer at Forstmann's fabric division.