72 Layoffs Coming In Croydon Label Company Closure

CROYDON, PA —A manufacturer of custom product labels will be shutting down its State Road facility next month, laying off 72 employees.

Brook + Whittle filed a notice with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry last month, telling the agency that it plans to shut its 3001 State Road in Croydon on May 25.

The Guilford, Connecticut-based company makes pressure-sensitive labels, shrink sleeves, flexible packaging, and heat transfer labels. It is owned by Snow Phipps Group LLC.

Minute Maid, Barilla, and Tidy Cats are among some of the products where the company's labels are featured, according to its website.

The Philadelphia Business Journal reported that the closure is due to a slowdown in demand.

The closure comes three years after the company purchased the facility. The company's website states that Brook + Whittle acquired the Croydon operation in 2020, making it one of 15 plants in the United States.

The company said it will consolidate the Croydon operations into its Amherst, New York, and Northbrook, Illinois, facilities over the coming weeks, the business journal reported.

Brook + Whittle said in a statement that it is giving impacted employees the option to apply for roles at other facilities, and working with local officials to assist workers who wish to stay in the Croydon area., the journal stated.

Brook + Whittle purchased the Croydon label converting facility, formerly known as Gilbreth Packaging Solutions, in May 2020 to expand its shrink sleeve capabilities.

The Croydon facility was manufacturing shrink sleeve labels for a variety of consumer and healthcare end markets for many of the leading customers and brands in North America, the company said at the time of the acquisition.

“Croydon is a unique business based on their depth of experience in and knowledge of the shrink sleeve category, which remains a significant strategic focus for us,” stated Mark Pollard, the company's chief executive said in a press release about the acquisition.

The company said the Croydon facility helped pioneer the shrink sleeve labels market more than 40 years ago as one of the first to introduce gravure printing on shrink film.

Croydon was in part responsible for the development of the full-bodied shrink sleeve label. Croydon engineers solved art distortion problems on high-shrink films. The site’s innovative solutions to new packaging challenges help customers differentiate their products in today’s retail environment, the company said.