Ouray Sportswear’s (asi/75402) run in Englewood, CO, is coming to an end but the brand is continuing on.

L2 Brands, the Pennsylvania-based firm that acquired Ouray from S&S Activewear (asi/84358) earlier this year, has announced that it’s shuttering a production facility in Englewood from which Ouray operates.

“Changing business needs require us to close this facility permanently and, therefore, we are providing you with this notice in accordance with the Federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN),” Ouray President Connor Knutson wrote in a letter filed with the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.

The WARN Act requires most employers with 100 or more employees to provide notification of 60 calendar days in advance of planned closings and mass layoffs.

Ouray plans to permanently let go 154 employees who currently work at the Englewood plant. Layoffs will begin Oct. 17 and most will conclude by the end of the year, but some employees could remain until the first quarter of 2024, the WARN filing stated. Employees have been notified, according to Knutson.

Ouray’s facility reportedly covers 114,000 square feet and includes apparel decorating operations; it’s said to house 13 automatic screen-printing presses and 176 embroidery heads.

Paige Wingert, CEO of L2 Brands, told ASI Media that Ouray’s warehousing and decoration operations will be moving to L2 Brands’ facilities in early 2024, “due to more than ample capacity with L2 having more than 400,000 square feet of state-of-the-art facilities, custom-designed for the quick-turn customization model that is a huge part of our value proposition to our customers.”

Ouray’s sales, creative, production art, sourcing and executive management teams will be moving into a new office and showroom space in Denver, Wingert said. 

Since the acquisition from S&S Activewear, the L2 and Ouray teams have worked on how to best integrate the businesses. With that, comes change to product offering, operations, and technology systems that help run the company, Wingert said. It also includes the difficult decision to close the Englewood plant, he explained.

“As is always the case in these situations and with a business that has such a rich history, we regret the loss of jobs in the Denver area and will be providing both financial and job placement support for those displaced employees,” Wingert said. “Knowing what is best in the long run makes the decision no less difficult in the present.”

Founded as Ski Country Imports in 1965, Ouray Sportswear supplies decorated sportswear and headwear to the destination/resort, collegiate, golf, large-format retail, blank distributor and private-label markets. Locale, which L2 Brands also acquired from S&S Activewear when it bought Ouray, provides headwear, apparel and accessories with designs inspired by outdoor destinations.

Two Pennsylvania companies – League and Legacy – that have histories going back to the early 1990s merged to form L2 Brands in 2018. Wingert believes the future of L2 and all its brands – Ouray, Locale, Legacy and League – is bright.

“We’re just getting started,” Wingert said. “The strategic vision is for a stronger company providing more product choice and end-market diversification. We see tremendous opportunities for growth in support of our customers’ needs and the ever-increasing consumer desire for more choices in fit, styling, colors, price points, graphics and decoration techniques.”