One of Maine’s few remaining woolen yarn operations is going out of business.
Springvale’s Jagger Spun yarn made the announcement Thursday in a letter to customers, citing rising labor and materials costs as the reason. Jagger also said its mill building and warehouse had already been sold.
“Five years ago, we had four different dye houses: we now have one dye house and dyeing costs have tripled,” the letter said. “With the cost of fiber and labor also continuing to rise, it has become increasingly difficult to remain profitable.”
The letter also stated the company would not be producing or dyeing any further lots, but would continue selling current inventory until all the yarn was gone, likely by the end of the year.
“It has been our pleasure to supply you with high quality worsted spun yarns made in Maine,” the letter said.
It’s unclear how many jobs will be lost with the closure. Calls and emails to Jagger were not immediately returned.
The company first began producing worsted yarns in southern Maine in 1898. In 2019, Jagger closed its in-house yarn spinning operation, contracting the work to another company in Springvale called Worsted Spinning New England, which operated out of Jagger’s mill building.
In Thursday’s letter to customers, Jagger indicated Worsted Spinning would downsize and move its operation to a different location.
