B.C. business moving all operations to U.S. but says tariffs not to blame

After nearly 50 years in B.C., a furniture company is packing up and moving to the U.S., putting 170 people out of work.

Prepac Manufacturing is closing its Delta plant and moving all operations to its North Carolina location.

The employees’ union believes the Donald Trump tariff war is at least partly to blame, but the company insists that is not the case.

“We’ve been in bargaining all of last year through many months of negotiations,” Gavin McGarrigle, Unifor’s Western Regional Director, told Global News.

“We reached a deal in mid-December and we had no notification that they were planning to leave only 60 days later. The only thing that changed was the Trump administration was brought in, we saw the chaos caused by these tariff threats, and now we see this private hedge fund taking this opportunity to abandon Canadian workers, abandon the people that built up the value in this company.”

In a statement to Global News, Prepac’s CEO, Nick Bozikis, said that the decision to centralize production into their North Carolina facility was the product of many months of consideration and analysis, and began long before any tariff risks to Prepac’s business arose.

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“The last several years have been challenging for North American furniture manufacturers with overall demand currently lower than when we opened the North Carolina facility in 2021. The closure of our Delta, B.C. facility is a necessary step that reflects the realities of Prepac today, and the prospects for the company going forward.”

Bozikis added that they are proud of their heritage in Delta but the North Carolina facility is located much closer to its largest customer base, which is about 70 per cent, on the East Coast.

“We are committed to supporting a smooth transition for all impacted employees,” he said.

“This decision was in no way a reflection on the quality of our B.C. team.”

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