Mattel to Shutter Montreal Mega Bloks Factory

Mattel Inc. is shutting down its Mega Bloks production facility in Montreal.

The closure of its factory in St-Laurent will begin later this year as the company shifts manufacturing to facilities in Mexico and China. The move is part of a companywide streamlining of its manufacturing and distribution channels. According to the Montreal Gazette, the closure will result in a loss of 580 manufacturing jobs. Mattel intends to maintain Mega Brands’ Montreal-based business and design team. At one point, the Montreal facility was the biggest toy factory in North America.

Mega Brands has a lineage that dates back to the 1960s with the company becoming best-known for its chunky brand of Mega Bloks in the 1980s. Mattel purchased the company in 2014 in an effort to gain traction in the construction and craft space, eventually launching Mega Construx to attract a wider range of builders. Former Mega Brands chief Vic Bertrand recently took the helm at Toys “R” Us Canada.

In 2014, the Toy Book toured the Montreal facility to see production and assembly of Mega Brands’ classic products.

https://www.facebook.com/TheToyBook/videos/10151962810945583/

About the author

James Zahn

James Zahn, AKA The Rock Father, is Editor-in-Chief of The Toy Book, a Senior Editor at The Toy Insider and The Pop Insider, and Editor of The Toy Report, The Toy Book‘s weekly industry newsletter. As a pop culture and toy industry expert, Zahn has appeared as a panelist and guest at events including Comic-Con International: San Diego (SDCC) Wizard World Chicago, and the ASTRA Marketplace & Academy. Zahn has more than 30 years of experience in the entertainment, retail, and publishing industries, and is frequently called upon to offer expert commentary for publications such as Forbes, Marketwatch, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, USA Today, Reuters, the Washington Post, and more. James has appeared on History Channel’s Modern Marvels, was interviewed by Larry King and Anderson Cooper, and has been seen on Yahoo! Finance, CNN, CNBC, FOX Business, NBC, ABC, CBS, WGN, The CW, and more. Zahn joined the Adventure Media & Events family in 2016, initially serving as a member of the Parent Advisory Board after penning articles for the Netflix Stream Team, Fandango Family, PBS KIDS, Sprout Parents (now Universal Kids), PopSugar, and Chicago Parent. He eventually joined the company full time as a Senior Editor and moved up the ranks to Deputy Editor and Editor-in-Chief.