ALVARADO, Texas ¨C Six years ago, LVMH¡¯s billionaire CEO, Bernard Arnault, and U.S. President Donald Trump cut the blue ribbon on a factory in rural Texas that would make designer handbags for Louis Vuitton, one of the world¡¯s best-known luxury brands.
But since the high-profile opening, the factory has faced a host of problems limiting production, 11 former Louis Vuitton employees said. The site has consistently ranked among the worst-performing for Louis Vuitton globally, ¡°significantly¡± underperforming other facilities, according to three former Louis Vuitton workers and a senior industry source, who cited internal rankings shared with staff.
The plant¡¯s problems ¡ª which haven¡¯t previously been reported ¡ª highlight the challenges for LVMH as it attempts to build its production footprint in the U.S. to avoid Trump¡¯s threatened tariffs on European-made goods.
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