Stanley Black & Decker plans to close its last manufacturing facility in New Britain, Connecticut, the city home to the company’s headquarters. Connecticut Public Radio reported that the action will impact nearly 300 workers at the factory, which primarily makes single-sided tape measures.
Company spokesperson Debora Raymond told CPR that the facility’s products “are becoming obsolete” as more people rely on electronic devices to measure distance. The Hartford Courant reported that New Britain Mayor Bobby Sanchez blamed the decision on “ongoing uncertainty at the federal level, including shifting trade policies and tariffs that have driven up material and production costs.”
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Stanley Black & Decker did not provide a timetable for ending operations but said its corporate headquarters will remain in New Britain and that it will offer jobs at other locations to the affected employees. The Courant reported that the company will keep about 400 workers at its headquarters.
According to the Courant, the latest closure announcement comes after Stanley Black & Decker shut down plants in Texas and South Carolina in 2023 and North Carolina in 2024. The company also plans to close a Mississippi facility this spring, which it expects to eliminate 600 jobs.
In early February, Stanley Black & Decker revealed that its Global Cost Reduction Program, launched in 2022, has generated approximately $2.1 billion of pre-tax run-rate savings.
Known as “Hardware City,” New Britain has served as Stanley Black & Decker’s headquarters since Frederick Stanley co-founded Stanley Bolt Manufactory in 1843. The city also hosted other companies, including Fafnir Bearing, P.F. Corbin, New Britain Machine and Landers, Frary & Clark. Some businesses closed as the industrial era declined, while investors relocated others to the South or out of the U.S.
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