FirstBrands bankruptcy strikes close to home
 

BrakeParts Inc. announced the closure of their McHenry, IL manufacturing and distribution facility. 399 employees let go and approximately 650,000 SqFt of office, manufacturing and warehouse space to be vacated by the end of this month and to be put up for sale.

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...d.php?t=884483
Talked a little about FirstBrands a little while ago.

Yeah, I saw that. I was surprised they had manufacturing out here in the Chicago suburbs. I thought they had picked up and moved to Mexico or the southern states where labor is still cheap. McHenry, IL where the facility was located has a population of 28,000 people. 400 factory jobs lost is a big hit.

Maybe Ames can bid for the site.

Someone needs to put a STOP to it. ��

Impossible unless you figure out a way to get rid of private equity firms. They are destroying a lot of industries by buying them for Pennie’s on the dollar, pumping some money into them to get them running then spinning them off to others for a profit. Doesn’t sound so bad does it? Until you realize that the only people buying these businesses are more private equity or venture capitalists with zero knowledge or concern about the industry, it’s just money they move back and forth and all these legacy brands mean nothing more than a paycheck. The vast majority of folks who knew and cared about the automotive business are gone, they either got swallowed up, retired or realized there are a lot better ways to earn a living.