Main Street plant closing rethought?
By Susan M. Andrews -- Furniture Today, March 1, 2004
FALL RIVER, Mass. — FALL RIVER, Mass. — Elkin McCallum, owner of Joan Fabrics, may be reconsidering the closing of the Main Street Textiles plant here.
McCallum said last year the plant would be closed in April and its production shifted to Mexico and/or North Carolina.
But Fall River's mayor, Ed Lambert, said last week that McCallum recently told him that if a way could be found to make the mill profitable, it may stay open.
McCallum last week did not return phone calls from Furniture/ Today.
The town of Fall River gave McCallum a tax incentive in 2000, when a new plant was built for Main Street, based on the expectation the operation would maintain the jobs it had and add more.
The town has since revoked the deal, however, since the operation has actually had a net loss of jobs, according to Lambert.
At the time the agreement took effect, Main Street had 613 employees. According to public records, the plant had 302 employees at the end of 2003.
Some employees were laid off and others quit to look for other work, based on their expectation the plant would close in April 2004.
