BRIGHTON PARK — The effort to revive the long-dormant and famous local brand Smith Bros., a cough drop and over-the-counter drug maker, ended this month when its owner pulled the plug on the South Side facility.
Production at the company's Brighton Park factory, 3501 W. 48th Pl., ended Sept. 23 after declining sales and a loss of a major business partner, according to John Wheeler, a senior consultant with Development Specialists, who was brought in to handle the brand's move to insolvency.
The brand was revived two years ago when it was bought by New York-based York Capital Management, who renovated the Brighton Park facility and financed a national advertising campaign, including a tie-in with the Chicago Blackhawks.
But sluggish sales torpedoed the comeback bid, Wheeler said.
"The science experiment sort of failed," he said. "It got to the point where they had to stop the bleeding."
A big reason for the decision to go insolvent was because the company lost a contract to produce products for another brand, which proved devastating to the company's finances, Wheeler said.
"When they lost that, they lost a bit of revenue," he said. "They tried to find some other services, do some other things. There was no business out there to replace it."
Production halted Sept. 23, when mechanical failures on the production line temporarily stopped work at the facility and company higher ups thought it best to shutter the factory.
"Some of those issues were the straw that broke the camel's back," Wheeler said.
About 15 employees are still reporting to work at the facility, Wheeler said, so that phones calls will be answered and the building can be maintained.
Still, about 60 full-time positions have been lost, with a few more temporary positions, though Wheeler said the number of temp positions fluctuated.
The Smith Brothers of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., began selling "cough candy" in 1847. The company relocated to Chicago in 1977 when it was bought by locally based F&F Foods, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Though the South Side facility is closing, there is still some hope for the brand, or at least the iconic logo of the bearded brothers, Wheeler said.
The company's assets will be sold, everything from the intellectual property to the equipment in the South Side factory. The company does not own the factory property, Wheeler said.
"I talk to everyone, and hope that someone would come forward to take on the business," he said.
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