The economic downturn has forced Coppley Apparel Group to lay off 93 union and salaried staff and to take other cost-cutting measures.

"In essence what's happened in the last 12 months in business is that the market is flat and down," said president Warwick Jones.

"Our consumer is paying $1,000 for a suit and he's just shut down his buying."

It's a blow for the high-end men's suit maker for the city.

Last year Coppley was one of the region's few manufacturing success stories. While many area factories were forced to lay off workers or close up shop, Coppley announced in June 2007 it would be hiring 200, starting right away with 50 hires.

This week's layoffs have left the company with between 300 and 400 employees, said Jones.

"We were so busy (last year) we couldn't train (staff) fast enough to meet the demand for product to get it out the door," said Jones. "Everything we were working on, our new equipment and our re-branding, is in place."

In the past year Coppley revitalized its relationship with its retailers across North America. That close contact and feedback led the company to step up production last year and scale back this year.

Jones said salaried staff have also had a rollback on their wages in order to cut costs. The one area that is untouched is marketing.

"We're not changing the way we do business," said Jones. "We're just battening down the hatches."

lmarr@thespec.com

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