Workers at a Quebec City Crocs plastic shoe factory set to close in the summer have been sent home for good.

The footwear company told shift workers Wednesday night that production at the plant would end for good, effective immediately, and then sent them home.

The same scenario was repeated Thursday morning with workers who showed up for their assignments. They were asked to hand in security cards and gather personal belongings.

No reason was given for the early closure.

It comes days after Crocs announced it would shut down the Quebec City plant in the summer to offset reduced demand for its colourful plastic shoes.

The union representing Crocs workers theorized the company made the call to close early as a way to stem the media attention.

"I think it's a way for Crocs' international directors to try to end this situation and make it so that people talk about it as little as possible," said Teamsters spokesman Stéphane Lacroix.

In recent months, 262 workers at the plant have been laid off. The remaining 407 got their pink slips late on Monday.

The U.S.-based company operates out of Colorado but is connected to Quebec where a research company invented a formula for the material used to make the shoes.