Injection molder Shore-Reboul Inc. is shutting down. The Freeport, N.Y., operation did not fit parent Rexam plc's corporate ambitions, according to Frank Brown, vice president and general counsel for the London firm's U.S. arm, Rexam Inc. The British company is heavily into cosmetic packaging, primarily in Europe.
``We've sold the equipment and are in the process of selling the plant,'' Brown said by phone Nov. 7 from Charlotte, N.C.
The equipment, including an undisclosed number of presses and assembly stations, was sold late last month to a New Jersey reseller that Brown would not name. Also for sale are several molds for Shore stock products, such as plastic packaging for deodorant sticks and talcs, he said.
It also injection molded caps.
According to Brown, Shore mainly did custom molding, as well as assembly of multipart pumps for lotions. Rexam has helped those customers make other arrangements, and it still will supply some pump needs from affiliates in France and Germany, where Rexam manufactures most of its cosmetic packaging, Brown said. That includes lipstick and mascara tubes, both for cosmetic companies that sell through upscale department stores and mass marketers; and precise-tolerance specialty pumps for perfumes and lotions, which Brown said Rexam has begun to market domestically through its SoFab SA subsidiary.
Brown would not identity any of Shore's customers.
Rexam's chief product lines ``didn't match up with the layout and capabilities of Shore,'' he said. He noted that the Freeport plant will close by Christmas. About 130 union workers have lost their jobs.
Jim Black, president of Shore, will stay at Rexam in a post that has not been determined, according to Brown.
Rexam picked up Shore in March 1993 as part of its acquisition of Cope Alman plc, a London firm that had undergone a leveraged buyout, Brown said.
In Flora, Ill., Toronto and Montreal, Rexam makes injection and blow molded plastic containers. Two plants near Evansville, Ind., make child-resistant closures for household chemicals and over-the-counter drugs.
Rexam plc is traded on the London stock exchange.
