The sneaker manufacturer Dass closes its last plant in Argentina: it will lay off 150 people and will import from Brazil

The company with Argentine and Brazilian capital, which has operated in the country since 2008, confirmed to Clarion what will continue, as until now, to locally market the Umbro, Fila and Asics brandsof which it has the license.

It will thus maintain an office in Buenos Aires and two distribution and logistics centers.one in Cañuelas and another in Coronel Suárez. The latter manufactured sneakers until January of last year and its closure led to the concentration of production in Misiones.

“We will no longer manufacture in Argentina, but the brands will continue to be. The supply model changes,” said Dass, who will bring the merchandise from the eight factories it has in Brazil, with 5,500 employees. In addition, it has another clothing factory in Paraguay. In Argentina, it never had clothing production.

150 workers remained at the Eldorado plant, who will be firedafter successive suspensions and voluntary retirements in 2025 and at the beginning of this year. In January, there were more than 40 dismissals. It employed more than 450 workers. and was the second largest private employer in Misiones.

Dass had already been affected in recent years by lower production due to the drop in the number of orders from brands and decline in sales due to depressed consumption. In its splendor, it assembled up to 22,000 pairs of sneakers per day, with 15 production lines and 1,500 collaborators between its plants and commercial offices. In 2021, it had announced an investment of $800 million to expand the Fila business, the label that produced the most there.

In the government of Mauricio Macri, in 2018, Dass reduced his staff by a third when imports were opened. When the situation turned around, In the government of Alberto Fernández, in 2023, however, he had difficulties in getting inputs by the stocks.

In turn, Dass made shoes for Adidas, Nike and Fila. In the case of the first, it brings most of the products it currently sells from Brazil, China, Indonesia, Vietnam and Pakistan, since imports were opened two years ago, so the volume in Eldorado was very low. The closure of Coronel Suárez led it to accelerate this process in 2025.

In this context, More than 80% of the factory’s activity was linked to orders from Adidas and Nikeso the progressive importation of both brands has reduced Dass’s operation in recent times.

In that sense, as noted by the Union of Workers of the Footwear Industry of the Argentine Republic (Uticra), the decision was informed at a meeting held this Monday, where the company argued that responds to the opening of imports y the determination of international brands to abandon national production to supply the Argentine market with imported footwear.