Quebec’s South Shore Furniture said it will end all operations after a 77 per cent drop in sales between 2022 and 2025, bringing 86 years of manufacturing in the province to a close.
The family-owned company says its facilities in Sainte-Croix and Coaticook will gradually cease operations in the coming weeks. Its 126 employees were informed of the decision Monday and will remain on the payroll for several weeks.
“It is an extremely difficult situation for our family, but also for our employees who have shown exceptional dedication and resilience in recent months,” said the company’s general director, Charles Laflamme, in a statement thanking staff for their commitment.
He said the company made every effort to maintain operations and jobs but could no longer continue in a market “where the rules of the World Trade Organization are not respected.”
The company points to years of heavy dumping of furniture from China and Vietnam into Canadian and U.S. markets, which it says drove down prices.
The release added that recent U.S. tariffs on certain Asian countries redirected more of those products into Canada, while tariffs affecting Canada slowed exports south of the border, effectively erasing demand on both sides.
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Chair of the board Jean Laflamme said the situation is particularly difficult given the company’s past performance, noting it reached peak sales during the pandemic and invested heavily in automation to boost productivity.
“If furniture is sold at prices below our raw material costs, very few Canadian companies can survive,” he said, adding most of the company’s materials come from Quebec’s forestry sector.
Laflamme called on decision-makers to act quickly using available legal tools to support the broader industry, warning the situation could lead to more closures affecting tens of thousands of jobs.
The company was founded in 1940 in Sainte-Croix, Que.
It said it was one of the last major Canadian furniture manufacturers assembling products domestically.
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So the problem is a reduced demand specifically because of the United States that is a market that is 10 times the size of Canada. The solution is to hammer Canadian retailers by restricting what products they can bring in from the global market. With the hope that a couple of small canadian furniture manufacturers will all of a sudden be able to supply the entire Canadian Market. That will not happen as the product line is so small and does not suit what consumers want. Freight from Asia to Vancouver costs less than freight from Quebec to Vancouver. Manufacturing costs in Asia are lower and material costs are lower. The access to textiles and other raw materials are much greater in Asia because their economies have been built up over the years and have the customer base to do so. There is a reason why we don’t have textile mills in Canada or leather tanneries. The idea of a new tarriff on wood products will bankrupt furniture retailers who are already struggling. Go buy that dining table or bedroom set real quick. Pricess will double and retail stores will close.