The recession had been extremely hard on the long gun industry especially the muzzle loading rifle market. The muzzle loading market IMO has peaked and only new technology in rifles and or lower priced rifles will continue to sell ML.

Doc

Thompson/Center Arms to close Rochester plant


Thursday, December 9, 2010


ROCHESTER — Springfield, Mass-based Smith & Wesson Holding Corp is relocating its Thompson/Center Arms operations from Rochester, N.H., to its Springfield, Mass. facility, according to the City biz Real Estate website.

The site posted the news late Wednesday night.

Foster's Daily Democrat has learned the company bused its employees to a meeting at the Governor's Inn Restaurant around 4 p.m. Wednesday. At the meeting company representatives were reported to have said the Thompson/Center Arms facility would be closed over a period of about nine months.

The closure will effect approximately 250 employees, some who may be offered the opportunity to move the company's Springfield operation.

Foster's also learned over the next couple of weeks there will be meetings with employees to discuss severance issues and the possible relocation of some local workers to Springfield. Employees were also told the company was continuing to look for a buyer for the foundry at the Rochester facility.

According to its most recent annual report, the company owns three manufacturing facilities in its firearm division. Its principal facility is the 530,323-square-foot Springfield plant. It also owns a 38,115-square-foot plant in Houlton, Maine, and the 160,000-square-foot plant in Rochester.

The bulk of the $9 million of estimated cash outlays associated with the relocation will occur in the second half of 2011, and those outlays are expected to be recovered in approximately 24 months. The relocation is scheduled to commence in January 2011 and conclude by November 2011.

As a result of the relocation of its Thompson/Center Arms operations, Smith & Wesson expects to record future expense of approximately $6 million, consisting of approximately $3 million for personnel-related exit costs and approximately $3 million of other facility-related shutdown costs, including costs for moving and facility preparation.

The Springfield facility is primarily used to manufacture handguns and rifles; the Houlton facility is primarily used to manufacture handcuffs, restraints, .22-caliber pistols, metal center-fire pistols, and the Walther PPK and PPK/S pistols; and the Rochester facility is used primarily to produce hunting rifles, black powder firearms, interchangeable firearm systems, and long gun barrels.

The company also owns a 56,869-square-foot facility in Springfield that it uses for the Smith & Wesson Academy, a state-accredited firearm training institution, a public shooting facility, and a retail store; and a 6,000-square-foot retail facility in Rochester.

The company leases office and manufacturing space at four facilities in its perimeter security division. The facilities are all located within a quarter mile of each other in Franklin, Tenn. The total space leased is 61,509 square feet.

The company also leases 2,800 square feet of office space in Scottsdale, Ariz., which houses its investor relations department as well as offices for its board of directors, and 577 square feet of office space in Washington, D.C., which houses certain executive staff. Both of these leases expire on Dec. 31, 2010.

Smith & Wesson acquired Rochester, NH-based Thompson/Center Arms, Inc., a privately held, New Hampshire-based designer, manufacturer and marketer of hunting firearms, for $102 million in cash in 2006.

The fact that foreign made muzzleloaders are being dumped on the US market for less than cost dosen't help. The average smoe thinks they are good stuff.

i dont know Doc . a whole lot of companies were having problems before the recession.
It costs a lot of money to come out with a new product . Especially if that product is completely new
A whole lot of these companies were just barely breaking even as it was

So in many cases the recession was just the straw that broke the camels back .

Personally the only thing that surprises me about this closer , is that it took so long .
Right after S&W bought out TC they had that news release that said they would discontinue much of the muzzle loading production , once inventory was sold off .
Then those statements were pulled .
But a whole lot of folks figured from day one that all S&W was after was the , name and the barrel making facilities .
Myself , I believe that once S&W fully assimilates TC into S&W production , you will see TC get closed down .. We might see some of the more popular center fire production be kept up . But past that S&W will run whats left of TC down the drain

I also think that the modern muzzle loading industry is fast going the same direction as the Traditional muzzle loading industry .
IE they semi custom and custom market will start up . while at the same time the mass production industry will become more importers, like Investment arms and CVA .
Possibly we may even see some Folks trying to market very cheep imports from India in the years to come .

that’s the only way your going to see lower prices . Which inevitably will also bring lower quality .
Simply put companies cannot produce at lower prices under our current system of regulations that’s been implemented over the last 30 or so years .

I sure would be nice if the market would grow considerably . Which would then allow mass production to drive the cost down . But I don’t believe that will happen as we have for the most part accepted higher costs . The public pays those costs without even thinking .
Look at the modern muzzle loading projectile industry . As long as people are willing to pay outlandish prices , then the next evolution of products will only cost more..
But then its really a catch 22 because if people stop paying those prices then either production dries up OR the producers move to where they can manufacture cheaper . then they either turn around and sell it back here at the same cost or less . Thus forcing those companies still here in the US to compete ,move or shut down .

Now enter the evil head of inflation .
I can remember making custom muzzleloaders for around 500.00 . Today I can hardly even buy the parts for most rifles at that cost . Never mined making much of those parts myself only raises the price in my labor. Which for the most part a fella is lucky to get ½ of minimum wage making a semi custom gun .
It sure seems like it’s a never ending spiral upwards .

I think we as consumers have to change out mindset if we are going to see US companies servive.
Only time will tell I guess .