HICKORY, North Carolina -- Premiere Finishing Company, a finisher of woven cloth with a craft in needle punching and washing, is closing its doors without a deal in place for it to be acquired and, according to Dennis Crisp, president, is transitioning some of its employees to Crypton, Inc in King's Mountain, North Carolina.

Crisp confirmed that he will become a sales consultant to Crypton and that he is currently managing the customers from Premiere during this transition. Meanwhile, his attorney is in the midst of dealing with the machinery owned by Premiere. According to an industry executive, the company was up and running as of June 10 but "it's a case of literally closing its doors without declaring bankruptcy or Chapter XI."

Americans concerned about the domestic supply chain and the shrinking list of vendors have furthered realized such fears with the closing of yet another textile company. It had been reported through Manta that Premiere, a company founded in 1996, was generating approximately $1mm in annual sales and had less than 50 employees.

Applied Textiles, TSG Inc. and Nanotex were among the names that had been rumored to be in talks about a possible acquisition but no such deal was reached.

"At Showtime, there was definitely talk of something happening with Premiere but I haven't heard of anything being confirmed except that Premiere is now closing its doors," said the industry executive.