Griffon Corp. is in the process of closing some of its Ames Cos. Inc. injection molding plants in the United States as part of a plan to outsource much of its production globally.
The plants that have closed or will close are part of Griffon's Consumer and Professional Products (CPP) segment, which makes closet items, storage systems, and lawn and garden equipment. Ames is a wholly owned subsidiary of Griffon.
Equipment from a 450,000-square-foot plastics plant in Camp Hill, Pa., will be auctioned by the industrial auction subsidiary of B. Riley Financial Inc. of Los Angeles together with Capital Recovery Group LLC of Enfield, Conn.
The Feb. 21-23 auction will be held online only and will include more than 30 large-tonnage injection molding machines as well as Fanuc robots, metal stamping presses and lines, late-model computer numerically controlled machinery, saws, toolroom equipment, trailers, forklifts, general plant support assets and some raw materials.
Ames, which currently employs about 3,200 people, is based in Orlando, Fla.
Griffon is a diversified holding and management company in New York. Its units make products including True Temper hardware, Hunter ceiling fans, Clopay building products, ClosetMaid organization products and CornellCookson closures.
Griffon began closing plants in December and should complete its efforts by mid-2024. The plan calls for reducing the CPP unit's U.S. footprint by about 1.2 million square feet, or 30 percent, and its staff by some 600 workers.
For fiscal year 2023, which ended Sept. 30, Griffon reported sales of $2.7 billion, a 3.57 percent decrease compared with $2.8 billion the year before.
CPP reported 2023 sales of $1.1 billion, an 18 percent drop compared with 2022.
Griffon Chairman and CEO Ronald Kramer had said in a Nov. 15 news release: "Our [CPP] segment's performance continues to reflect challenging market conditions, with all channels and geographies being affected by reduced consumer demand and elevated customer inventory levels."
Kramer added, "CPP is addressing these challenges by expanding its global sourcing strategy to include certain product categories that are currently manufactured in and for the U.S. market."
Equipment to be auctioned from the Camp Hill plant can be inspected Feb. 19-20. Inquiries can be made by contacting Paul Brown at B. Riley, (203) 313-8935, [email protected].
The companies also noted that four of Ames' complete wood mill operations with real estate are being auctioned this month in New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Griffon also issued a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) on Jan. 9 that it will close a ClosetMaid plant in Grantsville, Md., by March 28. That plant employs 123 people.