When Victor Innovatex Inc. starts producing fabric for the upholstery business in Fall River at some point in the next few weeks, the Quebec-based textile manufacturer will be tapping some of the region’s most valuable, long standing assets.
The company earned that right when it purchased a majority of the former Quaker Fabric Corp.’s assets last month for an undisclosed sum. Victor now owns Quaker’s manufacturing equipment, inventory and intellectual property, purchased when the 62-year-old manufacturer of upholstery fabrics shut down over the summer, unable to make its debt payments.
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The purchase agreement does not include any of Quaker’s six Fall River mills. In fact, said Serge Laurier, chief financial officer of Victor, “we don’t own real estate; we only have a [10-year guaranteed] lease” of the 81 Commerce Drive facility.
As a result, Gordon Brothers Group of Boston now owns the rest of Quaker’s former Fall River real estate, about six parcels.
Laurier and spokesman Jean-Pierre Simard would not give a job count for the mill once it is up and running, but another spokesman, David Costello, of Boston-based ADS Ventures Inc., said about 100 hires would likely be made during the next two years.
“For Fall River, we are at the beginning,” said Simard. “So we need to establish the best scenario and see how quickly we can restart the business. … So for now, we cannot provide any number of future employees. But in the next few years we will probably see a few hundred.” When Quaker Fabric closed, 62 of its 900 employees were Rhode Island residents.
Victor expected to complete the hiring of managers last week, and this week, the company will begin interviewing textile designers and mill workers.
“We are especially interested in the people that formerly worked for Quaker, and certainly from the surrounding community,” said Costello.
Victor’s manufacturing in Fall River is intended to be a move toward a new market for the company. It will be a new business – not merely a reincarnation of Quaker, although many of the about 500 Quaker customers will be retained, Laurier said.
“We are ready to capture the essential of the good business waiting there,” he said. “That’s why we’re starting a new business and talking with our customers and suppliers to restart what is possible.”
According to a company press release, that business will focus on textured fabrics, chenille and novelty yarns, as well as on advanced finishing technologies. Victor also expects that some of the production work will take place in Asia, a lower-cost option that Quaker had not fully utilized.
“There are some product lines that we know cannot be made at a profit in North America,” said Laurier. “That’s just the name of the game these days. [Quaker] had a plan, as we have a plan … to manufacture abroad in Asia.”
Quaker “ran out of time” while putting its foreign production into practice, he said.
Simard said the acquisition of Quaker’s designs, rights and trademark is a “significant” investment and Victor intends to build on the rich heritage of Quaker.
Privately held Victor was founded in 1947 and is based in Saint-Georges, Quebec, with production facilities in several Canadian locations, as well as a design studio in New York City.
“This acquisition will allow Victor to deliver compelling solutions to the textile market by expanding our expertise in contract textile design, lean production, on-time delivery and consistent quality,” said Alain Duval, Victor president and CEO.
“We intend to bring back to work some past plant employees to perform that task under the supervision of new managers. So that will be one phase,” said Simard. •
