PolartecThe Massachusetts developer and manufacturer of a special fleece fabric used in popular outdoors and military winter clothing said Friday that it would close its original factory in Lawrence, Mass., and move about 200 jobs to Cleveland, Tenn.
Polartec LLC, formerly known as Malden Mills, purchased the Cleveland-based United Knitting L.P. in late September, and said shortly thereafter that it would be moving some production and equipment there.
But Friday's announcement that the Lawrence mill - which had famously been rebuilt while all its workers continued to be paid after a 1995 fire - would now be closed took the community by shock, according to various media and union reports.
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