Incomplete list of publicly announced layoffs & shutdowns:
Alabama: In Mobile, 37 years old Book Stop shutdown, the owner said she had to care for her mother.
Arizona: Texas based Blue Bell Creameries is closing three Grand Canyon State distribution centers, more than 1-hundred jobs lost!
Florida: What automotive industry recovery? Iconic Estero based Hertz car rental company announced they are shutting down 2-hundred stores across the U.S.! Company administrators said rentals are so bad they need to cut $10-million USD per year in operating costs! In Tampa, US Foods issued a shutdown WARN saying 206 people will become jobless by August! The company is consolidating ops and is trying to merge with rival Sysco. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is challenging the merger. Obama Care forcing Panama City’s Crothall Healthcare to issue a WARN saying 167 people will become unemployed in July!
Illinois: News reports say Deerfield based Oreo Cookie bakery Mondelez International will eliminate at least 6-hundred people at their Chicago operations! News reports also say the industrial baker is considering shifting work to Mexico. Ironically, company administrators said even if they decide to stay and expand operations in Chicago at least 3-hundred jobs would still be eliminated!
Louisiana: In Lafayette, after more than 40 years the owners of Whole Wheatery Eatery announced they will shutdown in June. Owners Jean Goodman blame the landlord for jacking up the rent and “We’ve had poor sales for the past year. We’ve noticed an exodus of offices, just vacancies of offices and lots of for rent signs in the area.”
Minnesota: What housing market recovery? In Saint Cloud, after five years the owners of home furnishings store Accents announced they will shutdown at the end of June, blaming competition. H5N2 causing Rembrandt Enterprises egg farm to layoff 231 employees, due to “quickly declining” production!
Missouri: Golf Galaxy suddenly shutdown their Brentwood store. News reports said it’s being replaced with a booze store.
New Jersey: Trenton Board of Education announced they must eliminate 162 jobs! Administrators blame competition with charter schools. Paterson School District eliminating 547 jobs! That’s 60% more than what was being discussed! The state appointed school superintendent said the district must cut at least $21-million from its budget.
New York: At John F. Kennedy International Airport, DAL Global issued a WARN saying they must layoff 46 baggage handlers due to loss of contract. News reports say NYC based The Meredith Vieira Show laid off an undisclosed number of employees “Due to the changing and evolving format of the show….”. Digital First Media continues to slash & burn, this time an undisclosed number of employees at their Record, Capital Region and Saratogian newspapers were let go. Also in NYC, Toys R Us shutting down the iconic FAO Schwarz store in July, blaming greedy property owners (Boston Properties) who jacked up the rent: “The decision to vacate this space is due to the continuing rising costs of operating a retail location on Fifth Avenue in New York City.”
Crain’s New York Business reported that the rent for FAO Schwarz was jumping from $3-hundred per square foot to $2-thousand per square foot! FAO Schwarz is 150 years old, Toys R Us claims they will find a new location.
North Carolina: Charlotte based FairPoint Communications announced they are shutting down call centers, 219 jobs lost in Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire! FairPoint is also cutting another 41 jobs across 17 states. CEO Paul Sunu admitted, in a round-a-bout way, that there is no recovery: “Faced with the realities of the industry and the competitive landscape in which we operate, we must be keenly focused on managing costs and enhancing productivity…”
Pennsylvania: After 35 years Rubinstein’s Kennett Square office supply store shutdown. Management blamed competition with the internet, but then also stated that business was so good customers were having a hard time finding parking spaces. Operations are being consolidated to another store with a bigger parking lot.
South Carolina: Luxembourg based ArcelorMittal announced it will shutdown its Georgetown steel wire mill by summer, 226 jobs lost! This is the second time the factory has been shutdown since 2009, administrators blame competition.
Texas: Brenham based ice cream maker Blue Bell Creameries is now killing off 1,450 jobs, plus furloughing another 1,400 employees, plus reducing pay and hours for the 1,050 employees who will remain working, for a grand total of 3,900 jobs affected! What automotive industry recovery? In Waco, after 105 years (surviving the Great deflationary Depression and numerous recessions) Bill Miller’s car lot shutdown. The owner blames his cancer treatments: “The radiation that cured the cancer did a number on my neck and throat.”
Utah: Gun maker Vector Arms now chapter 11 bankrupt busted. Sales crashed 50%, possibly a result of the company’s involvement in violating a U.S. Army contract to supply the Afghan government with guns & ammo.
Washington: KapStone Paper and Packaging laid off 33 people at their Longview factory saying “Relative to other companies in our industry we have too many people….”.
Wisconsin: Plover based frozen snack food maker Golden County Foods now chapter 11 bankrupt busted.
13 – 14 May 2015: “When does this stop?”
WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification
The U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) no longer issues mass layoff reports: “On March 1, 2013, President Obama ordered into effect the across-the- board spending cuts (commonly referred to as sequestration) required by the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act, as amended. Under the order, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) must cut its current budget by more than $30 million, 5 percent of the current 2013 appropriation, by September 30, 2013. In order to help achieve these savings and protect core programs, the BLS will eliminate two programs, including Mass Layoff Statistics, and all ‘measuring green jobs’ products. This news release is the final publication of monthly mass layoff survey data.”