By Michael Lauzon
CORRESPONDENT
Published: September 27, 2013 3:48 pm ET
Canadian housewares producer Gracious Living Corp. is looking to establish its first U.S. injection molding plant, according to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Gracious Living, based in Toronto, is considering buying two facilities in Buffalo, N.Y.’s port terminal. The Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority agreed to sell the facilities on 49½ acres for US$4.7 million. When the parties sign a disposition agreement, the company will have a 120-day due diligence period to conduct environmental and other tests on the site.
Cuomo announced Sept. 26 that the project could mean an investment in “tens of millions of dollars.” Gracious Living will qualify for $2 million in performance-based tax credits from the state. About 250 jobs could be created in a plant and warehouse.
Gracious Living runs an injection molding plant in Toronto with 78 injection molding presses ranging in size up to 3,000 tons of clamping force. It molds, imports and distributes proprietary products for leisure and recreational, home comfort, organization solutions, pet care and outdoor living, and carpets and electrical goods such as fans and heaters. Many of the products are plastic but some are metal or other materials. The molding operation also does custom molding.
The company is a subsidiary of Gracious Living Group. The group includes Gracious Living Innovations Inc., which operates a profile extrusion plant in Mississauga, Ontario, with 62 extrusion lines. Gracious Living Group bought the 142,000-square-foot Mississauga business in 2009 from CPI Plastics Group. The extrusion business includes Eon polystyrene railings and decking that overlap the sister company’s outdoor living sales.
The group also includes resin distributor Toronto-based GLM Polymers Inc., which mainly deals in polyolefins and regrind of a range of thermoplastics.
“The U.S. market is an important part of our growth plans and having a U.S.-based facility demonstrates our commitment to serving and growing our U.S. customer base,” noted Gracious Living Corp. President Enzo Macri in the governor’s news release.
Gracious Living Group moved to its current structure after minority owners of Royal Alliance, a housewares molder, bought out the 60 percent stake held by the former Royal Group Technologies Ltd. of Woodbridge, Ontario, in early 2006. Vinyl extrusion major Royal Group became involved in Royal Alliance in 1998.
Gracious Living Corp. officials were unavailable to elaborate on the firm’s plans.
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