Tupperware, the iconic American brand known worldwide for its plastic food containers, is closing its last U.S. factory.
The 78-year-old company, which initially sold its products at housewives’ parties in the suburbs, plans to take advantage of Mexico’s lower wages.
The factory in the small town of Hemingway, South Carolina has produced billions of kitchen cabinets since it opened 48 years ago.
The closure — which was announced Thursday and will take effect later this year — is a huge blow to the Williamsburg County plant’s 148 employees.
Production will be moved to Lerma in Mexico, where the company says it already makes items for the US and Canada.
Tupperware was founded in 1946 by chemist Earl Tupper – whose airtight pastic containers made food last longer for families still struggling after the war and the Great Depression.
A worker at the Tupperware factory in Hemmingway, South Carolina
The small town of Hemmingway will be affected by the plant’s closure
It opened the South Carolina plant in April 1976 to meet demand east of the Mississippi River as the company grew rapidly.
After Tupperware threatened to move to Tennessee in 1993, the state offered tax breaks — and the company stayed.
The company remained and the number of employees grew to 1,300.
By then, the 900,000-square-foot food factory was producing 173 million tubs and containers made from Tupperware’s signature colorful plastic.
As big-box stores offered their own versions, sales dropped and layoffs occurred: 300 in 1996 and 250 in 2005, according to the local Post & Courier.
https://www.postandcourier.com/business/tupperware-hemingway-south-carolina-pee-dee-layoffs/article_4531a4a2-29aa-11ef-8301-c7c07b5ac375.html
The layoffs follow a difficult year for the 80-year-old company, headquartered in Orland, Florida.
In April, Tupperware warned it had “substantial doubt” it could continue to operate due to declining demand for its plastic containers and mounting debt. In a Filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange CommissionThe company said it was in “challenging financial condition.”
That announcement came just days after the New York Stock Exchange said Tupperware’s shares were at risk of being delisted because the company had failed to file its required annual report.
Bosses say they will offer early retirement and pay to eligible staff, and try to find them work at other local businesses.
“It is important to note that this decision is not a reflection of the performance of the Hemingway team,” the company said in a statement to DailyMail.com.
“The company has always been a people-focused company, so we will take important steps to care for our Hemingway team.”
Tupperware had sold the Hemmingway factory last fall to a real estate investment company for $15 million and then leased it back.
After Earl Tupper founded the company in 1946his products increased enormously in popularity in the 1950s.
This was partly due to the iconic ‘Tupperware parties’, where a salesman came to someone’s home to demonstrate and sell the containers.
These parties have captured the imagination of the people ever since.
For example, Dixie Longate is a drag queen persona known as “Tupperware Lady.” She is played by actor Kris Andersson and is known for her comedy sketches in which she sells the plastic goods.
Production will be moved to Tupperware’s factory in Mexico
Dixie Longate, also known as the Tupperware Lady, performs in Westwood, California
Tupperware Brands indicated Friday that its company may not survive an SEC filing
A group of unnamed women attend a Tupperware party circa 1955, some wearing hats made from Tupperware products
The COVID-19 pandemic boosted Tupperware sales as families stayed indoors and cooked more meals at home.
Since then, the company has suffered from poor sales and mounting debt, sending its share price to its lowest level ever.
It traded at $1.50 on Friday, down from a high of nearly $100 in 2013.
The company first expressed substantial doubts about its ability to continue as a going concern almost a year ago.
It has since appointed consumer goods industry veteran Laurie Ann Goldman as CEO.