The Ohio owner of Steuben Glass, the company still making luxury lead crystal by hand in the United States, said on Wednesday that it plans to end production after 108 years.
Schottenstein Stores Corp. of Columbus, Ohio, which bought the business from longtime owner Corning Inc. in 2008, said declining sales in the choppy economy have been eroding Steuben Glass' profitability. Steuben's sole factory, which employs 60 people making everything from wine glasses to art objects in the small city of Corning in western New York, is set to close Nov. 29.
When the factory opened in 1903, founder and designer Frederick Carder's richly hued creations turned him into a giant of the glass arts scene alongside Louis Comfort Tiffany and Rene Lalique.
