National Tobacco to Close Production Plant in Louisville, KY..

September 7, 2008 - National Tobacco Co. will close factory by the end of next year, eliminating the jobs of between 80 and 100 people who cut, flavor and package Beech Nut loose leaf chewing tobacco and other products.

Beech Nut, the No. 3 chewing tobacco, continues to decline in popularity losing about 7 percent of the market each year. What's more, the 108-year-old factory at 3029 Muhammad Ali is obsolete, he said yesterday. The company decided to outsource the production to an Owensboro, Ky., plant owned by Swedish Match North America Inc. National will keep approximately 100 marketing, finance and other personnel at its 26-acre site at 30th Street and Muhammad Ali Boulevard in Louisville, KY.

In 1988: National Tobacco Corporation is formed to acquire Lorillard's smokeless tobacco products like Beech Nut.

Reference: National Tobacco Co. to close Louisville operation by Jere Downs, Louisville Courier-Journal.com, 9/6/2008.