Fruit of the Loom laid off 119 people at a South Carolina distribution center, according to a WARN notice filed this week.
The notice references a “permanent closure” at 1116 Business Park Rd. in Summerville, South Carolina. WARN notices are required under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988, and companies with more than 100 workers must disclose planned closings and mass layoffs.
Headquartered in Bowling Green, Kentucky, Fruit of the Loom manufactures and distributes innerwear and activewear and owns brands including Fruit of the Loom, Russell Athletic, Vanity Fair and Spalding brands.
The company’s last impact to its workforce took place in April 2020, when it furloughed 541 people, due to the Covid-19 pandemic in Bowling Green, according to Kentucky WARN records.
"As a global Company operating in a highly competitive marketplace, Fruit of the Loom, Inc., is constantly analyzing its business to ensure we remain as competitive as possible," a Fruit of the Loom spokesperson said in an email. "After an extensive review of our distribution network, the decision was made to close the distribution center in Summerville, South Carolina in support of a consolidation strategy."
The closing process will take place over several months and be completed by July 1, the spokesperson said.
The company employs 27,000 people globally and has production facilities in Australia, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Morocco, Vietnam and the U.S., according to its website. It’s a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, which acquired Fruit of the Loom out of bankruptcy in 2002.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect Fruit of the Loom's response.
