Hickey Freeman, which employs hundreds of people at its Rochester clothing plant, has a new owner.
The premium clothing brand has gone through a succession of owners in the last few years. Last July, Canadian clothing company Samuelsohn reached an agreement to buy the business from W-Diamond Group, which was a company created by a former CEO of the company that had owned Hickey Freeman.
New York Senator Chuck Schumer, speaking Monday in Albany, calls Samuelsohn the perfect match for Hickey Freeman.
“It’s going to mean a lot of jobs for Rochester and expansion of the plant here, and it’s great news for the existing Hickey employees and and for the future ones as well."
Schumer says Samuelsohn plans to bring new lines of business to the Rochester facility, which will help preserve its 350 union jobs, and potentially add more positions. The man who will be taking over as CEO of Hickey Freeman, Stephen Granovsky, calls the local clothing plant a “diamond in the rough “ and he says the new owners look forward to growing the business significantly over the next three to five years.