Gillette to Invest 120 Million Euros in Polish Plant

The Gillette Co., Boston, MA, will invest 120 million euros ($147 million) in a new shaver factory in Lodz, Poland, shifting the center of gravity of its European operations eastward, the company said on Tuesday.

The world’s largest razor and blade maker said the plant, to be built by 2007, would produce, package and export disposable razors and other shaving products to Russia and western Europe, employing 1,150 people in the central Polish city of Lodz.

Gillette said current production at its British plants in Isleworth and Hemel Hempstead in southeast England would be consolidated in the new factory. It will also shift production of its high-end Sensor line to Lodz from its Berlin factory.

About 700 jobs will move to Poland from the German and British plants but Gillette officials said the cuts had been announced last year.

The government had offered Gillette a broad package of incentives in exchange for the investment. Potential investors have said in the past they had been scared off by Poland’s rampant bureaucracy, high labor costs for eastern Europe and its crumbling roads.