by Queen Cutlery, maker of fine pocket knives, announced last week that they would be closing their door and furloughing their employees.
From their Facebook page:
Kenneth Daniels CEO and President of Queen Cutlery has announced effective January 10, 2018, that due to issues with cash flow, Queen Cutlery Company has been forced to cease all production and close it’s Titusville Pennsylvania facility, and furlough it’s employees while it goes through a period of reorganization.
KnifeNews.com wrote on the closure:
It is unclear whether or not the closing will be a permanent one. But either way, it marks the end of 507 Chestnut Street’s run as the longest continually operating knife factory in the United States. Schatt & Morgan first opened the plant in 1902. It was then purchased by Queen in 1933. In the early seventies, Queen itself was bought by the Servotronics corporation and subsequently acquired by Kenneth Daniels in 2012.
In recent years Queen has produced knives under its own label, as well as Tuna Valley Cutlery and Schatt & Morgan, and for Northwoods Knives. One of their most recent projects was a series of old-style automatic knives, which they kicked off with the John Henry model last year under the Schatt & Morgan label. Like other traditional slipjoint manufactures, Queen knives enjoyed an avid fan base. Ryan Daniels told us last year that about 80% of their business came from dedicated collectors.
Queen Cutlery had been in business for 90 years. They are not the first traditional pocket knife maker to close in recent years. Canal Street Cutlery closed its doors back in 2015.
As a collector and user of traditional slip-joint pocket knives, I find this very sad. I have a number of Queen, Canal Street, and Schatt and Morgan knives. I never really got into collecting Case knives though I have a few. Beside Case, this leaves Great Eastern Cutlery as the remaining major US manufacturer of traditional pocket knives.
I’d suggest now is the time to start scouring stores and online if you want any of the Queen or Schatt and Morgan line.
UPDATE: There is a long thread about the Queen Cutlery closure on BladeForums.com. The gist of it is that quality was down, prices were up, customer service was poor, and their best cutlers had left to go to Great Eastern Cutlery which is also in Titusville, PA. Read the thread and make up your own mind as to what was behind the demise of Queen.