"Mr. Irwin is confident that a strong management team is in place to continue the direction the company has been headed in the past year," said a company release.
Irwin Toy is a family-controlled business, based in Toronto, involved in manufacturing toys such as Meccano, Slinky, Yo-Yo and Dragonball Z action figures.
Just over a year ago, the departing CEO faced dissention from his executive team, which included family members, over the direction he was taking the company.
Irwin was founded in 1926. It reported a profit of $1.7 million in 1999 and has continued to post profits this year despite being hit with losses of $3.3 million in 1998.
However, some analysts say Irwin resigned because of poor sales going into the Christmas season. ``Obviously things are not well in Irwin land if people are being booted before Christmas,'' Richard Talbot of Talbot Consultants International told Reuters.
Irwin is being replaced on an interim basis by his father, Macdonald Irwin.
