Incomplete list of job loss announcements and shutdowns.

Arizona: Sears Holdings shutting down the Glendale Kmart, no word on job losses.

California: After almost 60 years Belmont Iceland indoor ice skating rink shutting down in April.  Despite an average of 10-thousand customers per month the owners says skyrocketing operating costs (including $1-million USD in necessary upgrades if they stay open) are too much.  In Los Angeles, advertising agency CB+B eliminating 4% of their jobs due to the loss of their contract with restaurant chain Applebee’s.  Inside the hotel Montage Beverly Hills, restaurant Scarpetta shutting down sometime in Spring to be replaced with food service that can remain open all daylong.  Carpinteria based burger joint Carl’s Jr. shutdown two Canadian restaurants in Toronto, about 40 jobs lost.  Employees say they were not given a reason for the shutdowns, however, company administrators claim they will eventually open 30 new restaurants across the Great White North.

Colorado: Denver based Chipotle Mexican Grill is shutting down all its restaurant across the United States in February!  It’s blamed on the ongoing and unexplained microbial infections in numerous restaurants.  However, administrators claim the shutdown is for one day only and is basically a ‘come to Jesus meeting’ for employees about food safety (that’s right, blame the employees), never mind that Chipotle’s sales have crashed 40% in 2015!  The massive nationwide one day shutdown will massively affect sales as well.

Connecticut: Fairfield based industrial giant General Electric (GE) sold-off its home appliance business to China for $5.4-billion USD!  GE is also moving its Fairfield HQ to Boston Weak, Massachusetts.

Florida:   Professional Transportation issued multiple WARNs, 254 people becoming jobless by March!  After 16 years the Freebird music joint in Jacksonville Beach shutting down.  Originally it was a restaurant then moved to having live bands, now the new owners will turn it into a surfing themed bar.  The National Deaf Academy shutting down between March and April after being hit with lawsuits alleging child abuse (administrators refused to give an official reason).

Georgia: Sears Holdings shutting down the Milledgeville and Rome Kmarts by mid-April, no word on how many jobs lost.  In Decatur, after 13 years CoreBody gym shutting down, the co-owners blame skyrocketing rent, taxes and utility bills, as well as lack of parking spaces where they’re located.

Hawaii: Shoe store Robins shutting down in the evil GGP owned (a former employer of mine) Ala Moana Center, no other info was reported.

Illinois:  God refuses to stop the shutdown of ‘his’ Oak Park Saint Edmund Catholic School, due to crashing enrollments.   The state Department of Labor shutting down its Bloomington office blaming the federal Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act.  In Chicago, after 40 years The Alley boutique shutting down this weekend.  In Evanston, after 36 years eccentric gift store Eureka! shutting down, Bindy Bitterman the owner lamented “This is an old-fashioned freestanding shop that has gone the way of the Dodo Bird.”

Kentucky: What automotive industry recovery?  Without warning Sweden owned automotive bearing maker SFK (Svenska KullagerFabriken) shutdown their 20 years old Hebron factory, 145 jobs affected by the sudden consolidation of work to SFK’s factory in Tennessee!

Maryland: Iconic Beyda’s Lad & Lassie clothing store shutting down by February, blame property development.

Michigan:  385 jobs lost as jobs contractor British empire India owned/Canada based Minacs shuts down their Farmington Hills office!  Administrators blame it on the sudden loss of a major client.  Proof the economy sucks and families are homeless and starving! Feeding America is shutting down two food warehouses because they’re too small, administrators say they need bigger locations to meet the huge demand: “…the need has grown over the last decade…We know we have the ability to fully meet the need…To put it simply, we’ve outgrown these facilities.”-Ken Estelle, Feeding America West Michigan CEO

Mississippi:  A Tronox chemical factory shutting down in Monroe County, at least 70 contracted jobs lost by the end of the month.

Nebraska:  Grocery seller SpartanNash announced the shutdown of three Omaha area stores, under the brands Bag-n-Save and No Frills, hundreds of jobs lost!  It could be because Michigan based SpartanNash is spending $14-million USD to renovate eight other stores into their new Family Fare brand.

Nevada:  In Las Vegas, after less than six years Blackbird Studios shutting down.  Despite news media and fans claiming the artistic venue is a “critical success” the owner says she’s not making money and is several months behind on her rent payments!  Yet a third solar power panel company is getting the hell outta The Silver State (after anti solar panel regs were passed, which actually penalize homeowners for installing them).  Go Solar, a Las Vegas based company, is laying off 17 people and reducing hours for the rest of their employees.   Scott Shaw, a Go Solar exec, says that since the new anti-solar panel regulations were announced “We’ve gone from five installations a week to zero!”  Between Go Solar, SunRun and SolarCity the new anti-solar panel regulations will cause Nevada to lose about 2-thousand jobs!

New Jersey: In Moorestown, after 48 years the owner of Peter Pan Gift Shop and TR Bell Gifts shutting them both down due to crashed sales and jacked rents: “You open the newspapers and it’s coupons, coupons. People now don’t seem to be as concerned about customer service, which is what little stores offer. They’re really more concerned with price. … The little guy can’t make rent. My public service bill runs $2,500 a month. It’s a 6,000-square-foot building.”-Melody Manning

New York: Jefferson County shutting down the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) office on Fort Drum by the end of the month, blaming a shift to internet operations.  Too Big to Jail Goldman Sachs announced more job cuts, this time about 250 people will be let go by March!  Apparently the mass job losses are not connected to Goldman’s $5.1-billion USD settlement over charges Goldman rigged mortgage deals they knew would go bad!  Home decor and clothing branding company Sequential Brands Group revealed to state employment administrators that they shutdown their NYC ops last week, 134 jobs affected!  Within the past 24 hours stock analysts were boasting that Sequential Brands Group will double in value this year.  This is the same company that took over the Martha Stewart brand and killed jobs there in 2014-15.  In Manhattan’s Upper East Side restaurant David Burke Fishtail shutting down this weekend due to the greedy landlord.  News reports say it’s the third David Burke restaurant to shutdown in less than a year.  Orleans Community Health announced layoffs for Medina Memorial Hospital starting February, ObamaCare forced it to become a ‘Critical Access Hospital’ treating less patients, meaning less employees.  Netherlands based food wholesaler Ahold shutting down its Lancaster and Cheektowaga warehouse operations, 602 jobs lost by August!  Ahold joins the mass exodus from The Empire State and is consolidating warehousing to Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.   In NYC, after 12 years Fontana’s bar shutting down, the pissed owners saying “It has become increasingly hard to be an independent business in New York city without compromising your vision. Choices get made due to economic strain and we are no longer willing to bend to that pressure. We set out to operate a neighborhood rock bar and that has become economically unfeasible.”  

Ohio: More proof high-tech is not recession resistant.    Digital Works shutdown their high-tech skills training programs in Logan, Lynchburg, Middleport, Portsmouth and West Union.  The training program was started in 2013 with taxpayer funding, that taxpayer funding ended in 2015.     

More proof virtual reality and ObamaCare is not recession resistant; after four years virtual telemedicine health provider connector HealthSpot now chapter 7 bankrupt busted and being liquidated.  The plan was to set up remote kiosks in which people could access medical coverage help under this ObamaCare regime.  However, despite raising $48-million USD and building 191 kiosks, 137 of those kiosks are still sitting in storage unused!  The other 54 kiosks that were set up in retail locations, like RiteAid, are not in use.

Oregon: After only three years Go Kart Hero suddenly shutdown and began refunding members’ money.

Pennsylvania: Sears Holdings shutting down the Exton Kmart, no word on job losses.  Global legal firm Reed Smith eliminating 45 jobs, despite reporting $1-billion in revenues for 2015.  Administrators say they’re making the job cuts because the future of the economy is not looking good: “The legal industry has experienced a fundamental shift in the nature of the demand….Like all profitable businesses, Reed Smith must be attentive to market demand and industry changes and make necessary adjustments to remain competitive.” 

South Dakota:  The STAR Academy child prison laying off 47 employees in 2017.  It’s part of the state government’s plan to reduce the number of children held prisoner in an attempt to cut $32-million USD in costs over the next five years.

Texas: The Corpus Christi Army Depot announced more layoffs, contractor ManCom eliminating 46 jobs, and contractor URS eliminating 25 jobs, due to reduced taxpayer spending.

Virginia:  Sears Holdings shutting down the Cedar Bluff, Covington and Virginia Beach Kmarts by mid-April, more than 1-hundred jobs lost!   God refuses to stop ‘his’ Southern Baptist International Mission Board from eliminating 30 jobs.  It’s the result of the Christian recruitment ops’ shutdown of their Richmond Communications Center.

Washington:  Reports say Vancouver based non-profit healthcare provider PeaceHealth will layoff at least 150 employees across Alaska, Washington and Oregon by the end of the month!  It’s an attempt by PeaceHealth to remain financially viable under ObamaCare.

Wisconsin: In Racine, clothier Jos A. Bank shutting down their 13 years old Regency Mall store by the end of the month.  The store manager told local news media she was not given a reason by corporate.

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

14 January 2016:  “Walmart won.” 

Former employees who receive severance are not counted as unemployed

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.”