Incomplete list of U.S. retail/banking/service sector job loss announcements and shutdowns for August 2016:
Public relations company Coyne PR (offices in California, New Jersey & New York) suddenly laid off 30 people and slashed employee benefits, blaming a now former chief financial officer for “overstating” financial facts, and warning that they’re only just beginning to discover the damage caused by the CFO.
Alabama: In Decatur, after 30 years Green’s Video shutdown due to online competition. At one point there were several Green’s Video stores across northern Alabama. The owner says he still has die-hard customers, just not enough: “Customers have asked me multiple times over the years, ‘You’re not planning to go out of business, are you?’ They really enjoyed having a video store. They are pretty upset the store’s going under.”-Dan Green
California: In San Bernardino, after 60 years of costume sales Fun Corner will shutdown in november, so the owners can retire. After 30 years the adult book store Circus of Books, in Silver Lakes, shutdown to be replaced with a ganja shop. In North Hollywood, the Laurel Plaza Macy’s shutting down, the property has been sold and will be turned into apartments, 193 jobs gone by the end of Autumn! In Anaheim, Good Hope International laying off 60 hotel employees by October. J. Brand clothier laying off 27 people in Los Angeles, by mid-November. In Glendale, Disney Parks & Resorts laying off 74 people by October. What car sales recovery? In Riverside, Davidson Motors Lexus eliminating 111 jobs by October! Team AMVETS shutting down yet another thrift store, this time in Chula Vista, 16 jobs gone by October. The Orange Y BMX track, the only BMX track in Orange County, shutdown after the property owners-Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) refused to renew the lease. The operators of the popular and profitable Orange Y BMX even offered to pay as much as $8-thousand USD more per month in rent! At the same time that Ashley Furniture suddenly shutdown their sofa factory (Without Warning: Ashely Furniture lays off 840 factory employees in five mintues, saying “…there’s no more jobs!”) the RoomsExpress/Ashley Home Furniture HomeStore in Arroyo Grande shutdown. Local TV station KSBY reports that customers are pissed as they are still waiting for furiniture they’ve paid for to be delivered!
Colorado: In Fort Collins, The Photo Shop shutdown, the owners will continue custom printing from their home. In Denver, Guiness Book certified as the world’s largest model train store in 2014, Caboose Hobbies shutdown after 65 years because the owner wants to retire. At one time the model train store employed 60 people!
Connecticut: Tudor Investment laid off 15% of employees after ‘investors’ pulled millions out of the hedge fund.
Florida: After its sale to Staples was blocked, Boca Raton based Office Depot announced that it will shutdown 3-hundred additional stores by 2018! ‘Christian’ Agnostic Warren Buffett eliminated 72 jobs with his Berkshire Hathaway Concierge in Fort Lauderdale. Advanatage Rent-A-Car/EZ Rent-A-Car laying off 20 people in West Palm Beach, by the end of September. Fort Meyers based clothing retailer Chico’s conducted a third round of mass layoffs since 2015, this time 2-hundred people were quietly fired! Chico’s administrators told local news sources that they are still within the guidleines for keeping the taxpayer funded $1.79-million USD ‘investment’ by the county of Lee! Yet again, Jacksonville based charity Wounded Warrior Project eliminated an undisclosed number of jobs, in the name of “growth”!
Georgia: In Buckhead, after 64 years Gretchen’s Children’s Shop shutting down after Xmas, so the owner can retire.
Idaho: In Pocatello, a divorce settlement forced the shutdown of 112 years old Town and Country Gardens, killing ten jobs: “We plan to sell it down to the bones.”-John Crook, owner, following the divorce court’s orders
Illinois: Chicago based unwanted gift card exchange service Raise laid off about 45 employees in an attempt to “sharpen our focus on the broader payments industry”. Walmart shutting down its Aurora store due to the fact they’ve built six other Walmart stores within ten miles of the Aurora-West Plaza store! Without warning Bed Bath & Beyond shutdown their store located in the Prairie Market shopping center. Local news reports say it’s another blow to the village of Oswego, which has lost several ‘big box’ stores since 2011.
Indiana: After 81 years Lorey’s Ben Franklin in Jasper shutting down so the owners can retire. Granger Hobby Stop shutdown after 18 years, the owner says he never recovered from the 2008 recession. In Muncie, Dunham’s Sports suddenly shutdown their Bethel Avenue store.
Iowa: In Cedar Rapids, Mitt Romney wunderkind Staples shutting down its First Avenue South East store by mid-September.
Kansas: In Frontenac, after 62 years Moore Furniture shutting down in September. In Emporia, after three years Junque Drawer Emporium shutdown because “competition was stiff” and “life events happen.”
Maine: Best Buy shutting down their retail store in Topsham by the end of October, blaming low sales and high rent.
Maryland: Best Buy shutting down two stores, one in Baltimore and one in Rosedale. 120 jobs lost due to the leases not being renewed!
Massachusetts: Framingham based Mitt Romney wunderkind Staples plans on shutting down at least 50 stores by the end of the year, due to losing $766-million USD in its 2nd quarter of 2016!
Michigan: In Fort Gratiot, after 25 years Pet Supplies Plus shutting down by the end of September, the owners blame it on a 22% crash in sales after a ‘big box’ pet store moved into the area: “…you have to have growth and our growth has not climbed in years, probably five or six years since we last saw any growth, so we made that decision.”-Steve Britz
Minnesota: After ten years Best Buy shutting down their store in Willmar by the end of September. Apparently that’s when the lease expires, 34 jobs lost.
Missouri: After 70 years Davis Baskets “The Basket King” up for sale so the 91 years old owner can finally retire.
Montana: In Billings, Zig’s Building Materials (Ziggy’s) shutting down when everything is sold, the owner wants to retire. Local news reports say the shutdown of Ziggy’s will add 200-thousand square feet (61-thousand square meters) of vacant retail space to the already 157-thousand square feet-plus of vacant space on the west side of the city as a result of Kmart, Hastings, Sports Authority and Hancock Fabrics leaving town!
Nebraska: In Scottsbluff, after 25 years Cornerstone Motors shutting down in September, the owner saying “I realized that I’ve never been this old before and it’s time to retire.”
New Jersey: In Atlantic City, due to the crashing casino industry Trump Taj Mahal issued a shutdown WARN, 2-thousand 848 jobs gone by mid-October! State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance issued a WARN saying 77 employees will become unemployed by the end of October. In Wall, after three years ‘home improvement’ store Lowe’s shutting down their Express store. The Lowe’s Express was opened in response to rebuilding efforts after Hurricane Sandy, but sales are not high enough! After 57 years men’s clothier The Style Shop shutdown: “Unfortunately the business climate has declined and has made it harder and harder to do business here…”-Joe Tolerico
New York: With its corporate HQ now located in the taxpayer funded NYC area known as Hudson Yards ‘megaproject’, up-scale department store Coach announced it will shutdown 250 stores in 2017, due to stagnating sales! In Red Hook, car parts store Ruge’s Automotive shutting down by November, 40 jobs lost. Rochester Action Sports Park shutting down due to the owner’s family health problems, there’s rumors that a group has formed to try and keep the skate park operating. In NYC, Too Big to Jail Goldman Sachs laying off 15 people by Xmas. Visium Asset Management WARNed it will begin laying off employees after October. Electronics retailer Best Buy issued a shutdown WARN for its Lawrence store, 60 jobs lost by mid-November. After 111 years New York Central Art Supply shutting down at the beginning of September. The operators said sales had slowed down, but the final straw was when the building was sold out from under them. After 32 years sheet music seller Schenectady VanCurler Music shutdown due to the fact that the internet revealed that old sheet music isn’t that rare after all, and you can get it online for almost a song! In Syracuse, after 90 years DeJulio’s Army and Navy Store (originally selling shoes starting in 1929) up for sale and shutting down when everything is gone. The owner blames internet competition. And the Mallard Tobacconist shutdown after 25 years. The owner was trying to sell the shop to fund her retirement, but gave up.
North Carolina: M&F Bank laid off 11% of its employees in an effort to save money. Matthews based Family Dollar Stores eliminating 370 corporate jobs, due to being taken over by competitor Dollar Tree! After nearly 17 years music venue Amos’ Southend shutting down due to ongoing neighborhood property development “presenting many new challenges to successfully run a music venue.” The Radio Shack in Wilson shutting down. In Raleigh, after 70 years bike store Flythe Cyclery shutdown due to a death in the family.
North Dakota: In Grand Forks, appliance store Karl’s shutting down due to the greedy landlord selling the property, and apparently the new (and as yet unknown) property owner doesn’t want to renew the lease.
Ohio: After 37 years shoe store Head Over Heels shutdown in Hyde Park Square. Co-owner Tony Jagoditz blames the industry itself, saying “The whole industry has changed in the last five years. When we opened there was a lot of domestic and European production. A lot of those factories closed or moved production to China.” In Akron, after nearly 30 years Dimitroff’s Furniture and Design shutting down by the end of October, the owners hope this time they can really retire (after a failed first retirement attempt 11 years ago). After suffering bigger quarterly losses than expected (a $13-million USD loss), New Albany based clothier Abercrombie & Fitch announced they will shutdown an additional 60 stores! After already shutting down 40 stores this year, Cincinnati based Macy’s announced it will shutdown another 1-hundred stores between now and Spring 2017: “Nearly all of the stores to be closed are cash flow positive today, but their volume and profitability in most cases have been declining steadily in recent years.”-Jeff Gennette, president
And retailer Rocky Brands essentially said the main stream news media claims that the economy is good is BullShit: “In response to market conditions, Rocky Brands made the very difficult decision to lay off approximately 20 employees. We believe that the retail environment which has led to decreased sales over the past six months is systemic as we have seen our competitors experience similar financial results.”-David Sharp, ceo
Pennsylvania: In Shenandoah, after 116 years (making it the oldest surviving business in the city) Talerico’s shoe repair shop shutdown due to skyrocketing demand for shoe repairs, but the old owner couldn’t find any potential employees qualified to repair the shoes: “Somebody could’ve done real good, but I couldn’t get anyone to learn it!”-Tom Talerico
South Carolina: Radio Shack shutting down their West Main Street, Lexington, store.
South Dakota: In Sioux Falls, Alan Evans Bridal shutdown.
Tennessee: What housing market recovery? Home sale closings fell 3.3% from the previous year, it’s being blamed on skyrocketing prices of homes. In Knoxville, after more than 25 years of selling-trading records and CDs iconic The Disc Exchange shutdown, the owners say they can no longer compete with digital, even with the resurgance of vinyl.
Texas: Fort Worth based bankrupt Radio Shack plans to sell-off or shutdown all remaining 4-thousand stores across the U.S.! The Hudson Institute blames the death of Radio Shack on the United Nations run international postal rates syndicate. Dallas based high-end retailer Neiman Marcus laid off nearly 1-hundred people! San Antonio based Too Big to Jail SWBC (SouthWest Business Corporation) warning of a third round of layoffs after losing yet another major client. Possibly an example of what I call Ripple Effect Layoffs as the oil industry BS hits The Lone Star State hard; after 11 years Houston’s only ‘professional’ theater shutdown. The Texas Repertory Theatre Company (note the evil British empire way of spelling theater) forced to close after The Houston Endowment canceled two years worth of its funding (about $50-thousand USD), and ticket sales crashed (apparently down to just 30 tickets per show)!
Wisconsin: Five hhgregg appliance & electronics stores shutting down based on their evaluation of their “real estate positions”! After 37 years Sauk Prairie’s Harley Davidson dealer shutting down by the end of September, due to the owners consolidating their multiple dealerships. In Manitowoc, after more than 20 years Ramona’s Ladies Apparel shutdown, the now deceased owner decided to sell all her business ventures last year. In Milwaukee, after five years music venue Hotel Foster shutdown.
SEARS KMART UPDATE, AUGUST 2016: BEWARE OF LAMPERTS ‘DONATING’ PROPERTY TO COLLEGES!
AUGUST 2016 OBAMACARE DESTRUCTION: “…WE’LL ALL HAVE TO DO MORE WITH LESS.”
AUGUST 2016 DUMBING DOWN THE U.S.: “IT’S AN INDECENT PRACTICE!” THROWING MONEY AT EDUCATION DOESN’T WORK, UNLESS IT’S TO HELP POLICE CHEAT!
July 2016: 1 COMPANY KILLS 40,000 JOBS IN 1 DAY!
WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification.
I found a 2010 AFL-CIO analysis (titled The Public Availability of WARN Notices: Lack of Accessibility and Disclosure…) which proves what I’ve been suspecting in my search of state WARN notices; most states are not complying with federal WARN regulations and are not publicizing or tracking mass layoffs.
Former employees who receive severance are not counted as unemployed!
Employees of religious non-profits might not qualify for unemployment assistance: “If the non-profit organization is a church, you may or may not be entitled to unemployment. It all depends upon state regulations for church employers. In many cases, churches are allowed to set their own rules regarding unemployment benefits, meaning the church can choose whether to offer benefits to former employees.”
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.”
