No Turn On Red

With the disappointing Holiday season behind us, the layoffs and retail store closings are continuing to mount:

Today, Home Depot has announced that they are closing their line of Expo home design centers and trimming support staff, resulting in 7,000 reduction in staff. With both home sales and the economy down, shoppers aren’t looking for high end home design solutions right now. The retailer is quick to note that the layoffs will not impact any customer service positions at the Home Depot proper chain.

It appears that their Expo stores weren’t performing well during the housing boom, so it’s no surprise that they would be doing even worse during the current economic conditions.

Another victim of the housing slump is Williams-Sonoma. On Friday, the retailer announced an 18% reduction in their workforce. In addition to stores being effected by the layoffs, the retailer will also close a call center in Pennsylvania and a distribution center in Memphis. I think the high end housewares stores have been hurt badly by both the economic downturn and mid-market retailers like JCPenney and Kohl’s.

Starbucks, who closed 600 stores in 2008, is expected to eliminate 1,000 jobs at their corporate headquarters and reducing district managers and field employees. The published report, prepared by investment firm McAdams Wright Ragen, speculates that these layoffs will happen in early February and won’t effect store-level barista positions.

And don’t forget that last week Circuit City announced that they are closing all US operations with job losses effecting up to 35,000 people.

Did you find this post helpful? Then, you should also view these posts:

• Circuit City fails to find buyer; will close all US stores (2)
• Starbucks announces layoffs, more store closings (0)
• Macy’s cutting 7,000 jobs (0)
• Macy’s Closing 11 Stores (0)
• Holiday’s Over (1)

It is now reported the Circuit City has failed to find a buyer willing to take over their store operations and instead has reached a deal with a liquidator. The electronics retailer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November and closed 155 stores in Q4 of 2008. They will now close the remaining 567 stores in the United States. Adding to the growing US job loss numbers, up to 35,000 people will be affected by these store closings.

Did you find this post helpful? Then, you should also view these posts:

• More Retail Layoffs (1)
• Starbucks announces layoffs, more store closings (0)
• Rag Shop can’t find buyer; stores to close (0)
• Macy’s Closing 11 Stores (0)
• Linens ‘n Things files for bankruptcy protection (0)