A local uniform manufacturer ceased operations on short notice and laid off 125 employees this month.
Royal Park Uniforms notified the N.C. Commerce Department that the financial institution backing the uniform company had cut off funding, forcing the local manufacturer to shut its doors.
The letter said the financing entity "would no longer fund payroll or any other expenses past November 10, 2011 at 5 p.m."
"This was a complete shock and surprise to RPU ownership and management," the company said in its letter to the N.C. Commerce Department. "There was no indication that the financial entity that RPU was dealing with would take such a strong stand."
Royal Park, formed in 1986, is based in Prospect Hill in southern Caswell County, about 55 miles northwest of Raleigh.
The company said that some of the laid off employees are expected to find work with a new company that assumes operations at the RPU plant.
According to its web site, Royal Park had more than 1,000 employees at one point, including staff at five plants in El Salvador, working in various stages of production.
Royal Park sold uniforms to retailers in the U.S. Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico.
John Murawski has been a full-time newspaper reporter since 1991, with stints at Legal Times and The Chronicle of Philanthropy (both in Washington, DC), The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Palm Beach Post (in South Florida) before arriving at the N&O in December 2004. At the N&O he covers energy (nuclear, coal, renewable, efficiency), hydralic fracturing (or "fracking"), public utilities (both electric and natural gas) and health care. His beat includes Progress Energy, PSNC Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas, PowerSecure International, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Biogen Idec and others. You can reach him at 919-829-8932 or
Comments
Financial Entity
Mon, 11/21/2011 - 19:19 — smithfieldsamThis comes to no surprise to someone who has had it happen to them. When a company is making money, every lender wants to handle the asset based lending. My guess is the company, Royal Park Uniforms, is going through a tough time and the lender decided it did not want Royal Park as a customer. I suggest to the owners of Royal Park that if they have any other financial relationship, personal or otherwise, with the lender, they pull their money from the lender.