Incomplete list of announced closings & layoffs.

Alaska: In Fairbanks, after 48 years Carr’s Men’s Clothing Store shutdown.

California: In Pomona, Future Foam laid off 40 employees.  In Irvine, Too Big to Jail JPMorganChase killed 168 jobs!  In Mountain View, Palo Alto Medical Foundation-Summit Health laid off two employees.

Florida:  After 61 years Pensacola Photo Supply shutdown.  In Broward, after 73 years Carls Furniture shutdown.  In Tampa, Too Big to Jail accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers laid off 19 IT employees.

Iowa: West Des Moines says they must shutdown the Phenix Early Childhood Center in order to deal with education funding cuts.  180 students and 12 teachers affected!  After 18 years Carlos O’Kelly’s Mexican Cafe shutdown three restaurants!

Kentucky: Fort Knox to shutdown four schools; Kingsolver Elementary, Mudge Elementary, Pierce Elementary and Walker Intermediate School.  That’s half their schools!  130 jobs will be lost! It’s blamed on the de-activation of the U.S. Army’s 3rd Brigade.

Maryland: In Cambridge, after 76 years Lednum’s Jewelers shutdown.

Michigan: In Royal Oak, a Barnes & Nobel bookstore shutdown.  It’s part of the massive Barnes & Noble shutdown across the country.  Some news reports blame competition with the internet, but that doesn’t hold water because Barnes & Noble also sells over the internet.

Minnesota: In Saint Cloud, after 27 years The Electric Fetus music store shutdown.  The owners said sales didn’t justify renewing the lease.

New Jersey:  Large women’s clothing retailer Ashley Stewart now chapter 11 bankrupt busted.  Company officials say their sales have been crashing since 2012.

New York: In Sherrill, the Oneida Company Store shutting down in April.  It’s part of the Oneida-Anchor Hocking merger creating a new company called Everyware.  The Wappingers Central School District  warned they might be forced to shutdown Vassar Road Elementary School.  Long Island College Hospital killing 350 healthcare jobs!   The hospital is for sale.  If it is not sold by May it will shutdown, affecting 1400 jobs!

Ohio: In Norton, after 52 years Gainer’s Barbershop shutdown.  The owner said the economy is “beginning to take its toll”.  In Columbus, after 60 years the last Cord Camera store shutdown.

Oregon: In The Dalles, Anana’s Boutique and Copa Cabaña shutdown.

Texas: Too Big to Jail Bank of America killing 156 mortgage industry jobs in Dallas, Tarrant and Collin counties!  It’s blamed on the coming housing market collapse!

Virginia: Debt collector NCO Financial Systems killed 107 call center jobs! The evil debt collector has been unable to force unemployed people from paying up and as a result they’ve lost millions of dollars every quarter.

Washington DC: International law and lobbying firm Patton Bogs laid off about 20 employees.

06 – 09 March 2014: “2013 was an awful, awful year for us!” 

The U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) doesn’t count the hundreds of layoffs involving less than 50 people each, in its mass layoff reports. It also doesn’t count all the little ‘mom & pop’ businesses that shut down.

“Our ideals and principles, as well as our national security……..That’s what makes America different. That’s what makes us exceptional.”-Barack Obama, 10 September 2013