Luxury glass manufacturer Steuben Glass has announced that it will cease production at the end of November, leaving 60 workers without a job. The Corning Museum of Glass will discontinue its Steuben line, and the flagship store in New York City will close. "The difficult economy, declining sales and high expenses continue to have a negative impact on the company's profitability," said Mark Sammit, president of Steuben LLC, which is owned by Schottenstein. Schottenstein, a family-controlled, private investment firm based in Ohio, purchased Steuben Glass from Corning Inc. in 2008 and renamed it Steuben Glass LLC. Even then, Steuben Glass was struggling as younger generations preferred to buy other luxury items, such as big-screen televisions. The business lost almost USD 6 million in 2007, and, according to company spokesman Ron Sykes, Schottenstein was unable to reverse the slide and never saw a profit. Sammitt hanked Steuben employees for their efforts to save the company.
