Hathaway plans to shut doors by end of October

WATERVILLE – C.F. Hathaway Co., the nation’s last major manufacturer of men’s dress shirts, plans to shut its doors later this month.

A spokeswoman for the Connecticut firm that owns Hathaway told the Morning Sentinel on Monday that the company’s Waterville factory will close on or around Oct. 18. Union workers confirmed the plan.

“I know the layoffs are going to start this week, because as the work runs out it will wind down,” said Vicki Gilbert, chief steward of the local textile workers union. “It will be close to the end of October before everybody’s out.”

The factory currently has more than 200 workers, along with an estimated 30 managers, she said.

Most workers learned about the shutdown late last week when the union reached an agreement on severance packages with the factory’s owners, Westport, Conn.-based Windsong/Allegiance Apparel Group, Gilbert said.

Windsong was not obligated to provide severance benefits, and workers will receive only one week’s pay for every

five years of service, she added.

Hathaway has faced imminent shutdowns several times before.

The shirt company made famous by the “Man in the Eye Patch” logo appeared likely to close five years ago before a local investment group financed a bailout.

Hathaway was again on the verge of collapse last fall when Windsong bought the 165-year-old shirtmaker and announced grand plans to revitalize its flagging brand.

Less than six months after Windsong bought Hathaway, the company announced plans to shut it down in June.