Levi Strauss cuts another 2,000, shutters U.S. plants

San Francisco Business Times ^ | 9/25/03

[Willie Green]

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.

San Francisco blue jeans maker Levi Strauss & Co. said Thursday it would close its remaining North America manufacturing and finishing plants, firing nearly 2,000 employees in the process, or about 11 percent of its global workforce.

The news comes days after the company said it would cut bout 350 salaried jobs in the U.S., with about 300 additional jobs cut in Europe in an effort to reduce costs in the face of reduced product pricing.

In April 2002, Levi Strauss closed six of its eight U.S. manufacturing plants, including its oldest on Valencia Street in San Francisco. The closures pink slipped 3,300 employees, or 20 percent of Levi's worldwide workforce.

The sewing plants closed in three phases and included four in Texas, and one in Georgia.

During that 2002 round of closures, there were 100 layoffs in San Francisco, where Levi had made jeans in its Mission District facility since 1906. The closures were part of Levi's turnaround plan, which involves getting out of manufacturing to focus on marketing. The company has been losing sales and profits for half a decade and has shifted manufacturing to offshore contractors like many of its competitors.

The remaining two U.S. plants were in San Antonio Texas.

[steplock]

It is time for TRUE Americans to simply BOYCOTT ALL NON-AMERICAN goods!

The NATION you save WILL be your own!


If you don't - I hope you are practicing your SLAVE mentality.

[steplock]

I am looking closely to CLARK as our next president! BUSH is selling us out to whichever globalist power group he belongs to. The outsourcing of even the OFFICIAL REPUBLICAN PARTY solicitations to an overseas firm is proof of this! And the party officials refuse to even return a call or answer an email. THe GOP is very close to becoming the ACP itself./

[TopQuark]

Oh, anything you DO is good enough for me! This is the United States, you know...

Your position is inconsistent however: if you continue to buy Levis, you would still be buying American. They just produce and sell less, having purhasps lost market share. Further, when you bought Levis before that announcement, why did you assume that you were buying American then --- the pair could've been made in Canada?

[HangFire]

I've been wearing Wranglers since I found out Levi's supports anti-gun groups three years ago! Glad to see it's made a difference;-)

[TopQuark]

It is time for TRUE Americans to simply BOYCOTT ALL NON-AMERICAN goods!

There is another alternative: perhaps, Americans should get some education (more and more people are functionally illiterate); stop demanding unreasonable salaries that are not justified by their prodictivity; and institute a legal reform that makes their benefits prohibitively expensive for the companies.

All of the above are much cheaper. Just because some person spend his time at the mall rather than community college, I should subsidize his high salary by buying goods he produces?

If you don't - I hope you are practicing your SLAVE mentality.

This "partiotism" is truely that of a scoundrel. Your last statement, inflammatory and uninformed, is nothing short of pathetic.

[discostu]

The problem for Levi is that employed workers haven't been buying their products. I can't remember the last time I saw anyone wearing actual Levis, forget buying them myself. Good economy, bad economy, if people ain't buying yer junk yer going out of business.

[Colofornian]

Levi's is doing the same thing in Canada

Boo hoo...[wet tears streaming my face]...let's see now...Levi Strauss:

...annual grant-griver of groups like Planned Parenthood & the N.O.W. Legal Defense & Education Fund, the Children's Defense Fund (formerly chaired by Hillary), the Women's Legal Defense Fund, the liberal League of Women's Voters...

L.S.: named in THE 100 BEST COMPANIES FOR GAY MEN & LESBIANS (Ed Mickens, 1993) {domestic partnership benefits + managers partly appraised on the basis of workplace diversity support--nothing new now--but L.S. was a trend-setter at this in the late 80s & early 90s}...

L.S.: avid sponsor of the Gay Games + 12-page ad inserts in gay pubs like Out mag...

L.S.: cut off financial support of the Boy Scouts in '91--claiming it "will not provide support to organizations which, in their constitution or practice, discriminate against a person or group on the basis of sexual orientation...age*..." Hmm...age...ya gotta read the asterisk..."age"* EXCEPT FOR gestational age...Levi Strauss doesn't mind discriminating unto death vs. future employee pool (otherwise known as pre-born babes or "the next generation")

[Old Professer]

Levi 501 jeans sustained the market for decades; nobody wants them now.

If there is anyone at Levi Strauss who can design a new "must-have" set of pants, I'll be sorely surprised.

What is about to happen is that the company will be bled of its reserves and the stock will collapse like a weed in the winter.

[ARCADIA]

Most of our corporations are owned by "simple folks" -- through their pension funds and stock portfolios.

You really need to get some perspective. Your so called "owners" are getting screwed along with the rest of us. By privilede few, I was refering to the management, the fund manager, and others who hold and exercise real power. That describes a very small set of people and they are anything but "simple folks".

[RussianConservative]

TQ sound like Texas_Hog.

[jimt]

"Moving away from owned-and-operated manufacturing to a broader sourcing base will strengthen our business by giving us much more flexibility. It will allow us to use the right sources - with the capabilities and cost-competitiveness that we need - to get a wider range of products to market faster."

This is a smokescreen to hide incompetence in manufacturing - nothing more, nothing less. Our customers are doing the same things, for the same reasons. They hire MBAs (Master Bullpuckey Artists) to run their manufacturing ops, and then are surprised when they bloat up on the latest trendy techniques and malarkey.

[dixie sass]

Union, bull hockey! They are part of the reason that American companies leave. They can't afford to pay American workers the salaries they demand and still have a reasonably priced product.

Everytime the unions get hirer wages, the prices go up - who can afford the products made in this country anymore? Not me, I have to purchase what I can afford!

Lets elimate credit cards and items that really cause Americans financial difficulty. When we can't go out and charge $100's of dollars of goods, when we have to pay cash only for goods and services, maybe then ...

No that won't even work, maybe taxes elimanated? Retail Sales Tax only, who knows...

[Hodar]

Hey, I personally don't care what Levi does with their profits. What I DO care about, is if the product fits me comfortably. All jeans are not designed to fit the same body style in the same way. Some guys have different 'butts' than others. I simply buy what fits *me*.

Lately, though; I've found that the $12.96 jeans that Costco sells not only fit my wide behind, they also fit my budget too.

[Lost Highway]

Am I correct in remembering a while back when Levis gave money to anti-gun groups?

[ZULU]

Good ridance. Levi Strauss was a heavy contributor to the Dems and leftist causes.

I'd like to see Bill Gates go the same way.

[Colofornian]

Hey, I personally don't care what Levi does with their profits.

Oh, same with me...Our babysitter zooms off to the crack dealer down the street upon being paid...I make sure I symbolically wash my hands every time I hand her the $

[Revolting cat!]

The "simple folks" who own and supposedly pressure the corporate managements are nothing more than a smoke screen used by, as you said, the privileged few. More often they are what the CFO of the company I once worked for referred to as "the Street", (i.e. the Wall Street analysts, fund managers, stock market speculators,) and used in various presentations to cover up for corporate management's shenanigans. The "simple folks", who are indeed you and me, who own shares in these funds and 401k plans, have nothing to say in these matters, and little if any influence if we did say something. It all ain't nothing but convenient myths and excuses.

[theDentist]

You look for the manufacturer's tag. Made in USA vs. Made in China, Made in Brazil, Made in Canada, etc.....

Do you think we can overcome a recession by closing plants and sending the jobs overseas? You keep buying them if you want. I won't.

[Revolting cat!]

Levi has long priced its denim products 20-30% higher than the comparable products from Wrangler and Lee (both now owned by the same company.) Why buy Levi's?

[Redbob]

Awwwww...

There goes the regular donation to Pax, I guess!