Crocs Inc president and CEO Ron Snyder has announced that the company is ceasing production of shoes in Canada and closing its only Canadian plant, located in Quebec City.

"This type of decision is always hard to make because it affects the lives of people who have contributed to our company's success. Unfortunately the laws of competition demand sacrifices and require us to meet challenges for the good of the company."

Canadian production will be transferred to one of seven existing plants offering greater production capacity (Mexico, Italy, Romania, Bosnia, China, Brazil, or Vietnam). No other plant will be built to replace the one in Canada.

High production costs in Canada are behind the decision. To remain competitive, the company's best strategy is to consolidate production at lower-cost facilities.

Of the 669 employees at the Quebec City plant, 262 have already been laid off in recent months. The remaining 407 will lose their positions by the end of July 2008.

Crocs will, however, keep some one hundred sales and marketing staff. Despite this sad decision, Canada remains a large market for Crocs Inc. The company is currently expanding its store on Rue St-Jean in Qu¨¦bec City from 1,200 to 2,000 square feet, and a number of new stores will be opened in Canada by the end of 2008.

This decision in no way affects the distribution network for Crocs products in Canada. Nearly 3,000 retailers currently sell Crocs products inCanada and will continue to offer all existing product lines as well as new collections of the footwear whose brand and qualities have taken the world by storm.