Grupo Dass confirmed the definitive closure of its plant in Eldorado, Misiones, the last factory it kept operating in Argentina to produce sports footwear linked to brands such as Nike and Adidas.
The decision will take effect between 17 and 24 July and will affect around 150 workers. The company said it will pay 100% of the required severance, but the social and labour impact will be concentrated in a city with a strong dependence on industrial jobs.
The Misiones factory had been operating since 2007 and had become the group's last point of local production. Its closure marks the end of an industrial phase in which Eldorado held a relevant place in the national sports-footwear chain.
The company frames the decision as a strategic reconversion. With imports opening and consumption falling, the firm considers it more convenient to supply the Argentine market with finished products from abroad.
Dass will not leave the country, but it will change its operating profile. The company will stop manufacturing locally and focus its presence on commercial activity, representation, imports and logistics.
The decision forms part of a broader trend affecting the footwear and apparel industry. Competition from imported goods, weak domestic demand and the loss of production scale reduce the ability to sustain labour-intensive plants.
For Misiones, the closure is a blow to formal employment and to Eldorado's industrial memory. It also opens a discussion about what tools can preserve local production in sectors exposed to sudden shifts in trade policy.
The Dass case shows a critical transition: a company that will continue selling in Argentina, but no longer through domestic manufacturing. The difference between producing and importing is now at the centre of the industrial debate.
