Toy Maker to Shut East L.A. Facility

Due to a weak market for stuffed animals primarily given as gifts, View-Master Ideal Group Inc. said it is closing its Caltoy manufacturing plant in East Los Angeles and laying off 40 employees in mid-December.

“The whole plush toy industry is struggling right now,” said Dan Nottage, vice president of administration at View-Master’s Portland, Ore., headquarters.

“We are readjusting our total marketing approach for 1989 and the gift industry isn’t an area we want to pursue at this time,” said Nottage in an interview earlier this week.

He said Beaverton, Ore.-based View-Master is focusing its efforts on producing mass-market games and toys sold by stores such as K mart and Toys R Us. It is also interested in expanding the line of small toys that it makes for fast-food restaurants and others to give out as prizes.

He said View-Master, which employs 650 in Portland, bought the East Los Angeles facility in October, 1986. Caltoy’s Los Angeles distribution center is slated to close in March.