Newell to Cut Jobs, Facilities

Newell Rubbermaid Inc., whose consumer goods include Sharpie markers, said Thursday that it would cut 5,000 jobs and close about one-third of its 80 manufacturing facilities under a three-year plan that focuses on cost cuts, new products and marketing.

Newell, which has been plagued by higher raw material costs to manufacture Rubbermaid storage containers, Goody hair clips and a host of other products, said it hoped to trim costs by more than $120 million annually by 2008.

The company, which has more than 31,000 employees across the United States and in countries including China and Mexico, would not say which plants would close or how production would be realigned.

The plan marks the second major revamp under Joseph Galli, who became chief executive in January 2001, and is “not a complete surprise, as there has been some speculation that another restructuring was coming,” said CIBC analyst Joseph Altobello.

“We believe this announcement highlights just how much is left to be done before the company truly turns the corner,” he said in a research note.

Shares of Atlanta-based Newell Rubbermaid rose 14 cents to $22.97.