Printing company leaving Long Island, laying off 85 workers

A Hicksville commercial printing business that makes book covers, dust jackets and inserts is laying off almost all of its employees as part of a relocation plan, according to a state notice.

Coral Graphic Services Inc., located at 840 S. Broadway, is scheduled to lay off 85 of its 95 workers starting on Thursday, according to a state Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification. The company, owned by parent company Bertelsmann Printing Group, does business as BPG USA, according to the company’s website.

Officials with BPG did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday.

The closing of the Hicksville operation is scheduled to be completed by Oct. 29, according to the state WARN notice.

Book printing experts said the industry has continued to face marketplace challenges broadly. 

"Book printing is challenged by a number of factors, but consumer demand for books is not one of them," Allison Belan, executive director of the Book Industry Study Group, a Manhattan-based trade group for the book publishing industry supply chain, said in an email. 

"The real challenge for book printers is paper supply," Belan said. "Book paper prices increased twice in the past year alone. So many paper mills have converted from producing book paper to producing cardboard and other packaging materials that the supply of book paper has fallen rapidly."

Historically, Belan said, commercial printers turned to imports of paper stocks to meet their needs, "but tariffs have made that a less cost-effective and more unpredictable option."

The state's WARN Act requires companies with at least 50 full-time employees to file notice of a mass layoff or business closure 90 days in advance.