132-Year-Old Pyrex Plant Closes for Good After Four Shutdown Delays

Yahoo

14-04-2025

The Anchor Hocking Glass Plant in Charleroi, Pennsylvania has roots going back 132 years, but the last two have brought with it a unique kind of whiplash.
The 300+ workers supply Pyrex glass – a product line owned by Instant Brands until a 2023 bankruptcy led to the sale of its housewares division to a company called Centre Lane Partners, owner of glass company Anchor Hocking.
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While Anchor Hocking took over the Charleroi plant – also known as Corelle Brand – in February of last year, it was just eight months until the firm announced that it would be closing it down and moving the jobs to another location, 170 miles away in Ohio.
The news – made public in September – was greeted with outrage, as stakeholders rallied outside the plant and lawmakers asked company leaders to reverse course. Pennsylvania then-senator Bob Casey even called on the FTC to investigate the events that led to the plant's closure decision.
Meanwhile, a confusing chain of events ensued and, by February, indecision seemed to be guiding the futures of the plant's employees.
By February, the closure had been delayed three times and 'at the 11th hour' it happened again.
Workers had reportedly cleaned out their lockers by the time they were told that the plant would remain open for a few months longer in order to fulfill a large order. But by then, as reported by Pittsburgh local news outlet WESA, interest in the factory's fate had waned. Some blamed this on the fact that the political fortunes of local lawmakers had been decided, leaving few champions for Corelle in Charleroi.
Now, we might actually now be at the end of the road for the factory.
Last week, CBS News reported that 'after a long and emotional roller coaster ride, the Corelle Brands plant owned by Anchor Hocking closed.' This time, reports suggest that it's for the final time.
And while Charleroi Borough manager Joe Manning said it was 'a gut punch,' he did add that several parties had expressed interest in possibly repurposing the site.
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