Telecommunications company, Tellabs, will have to layoff at least 300 employees in 2013! That’s because of $172 millin USD in losses for 2012. The Illinois based company already laid off 730 people in 2012!
Also in Illinois, two video rental stores shut down. The owner of Video Villager said she got a sign: “Business has been very, very poor. This week, we didn’t get our new movies we were supposed to. We took that as a sign maybe it was time to close the doors.”-Sherry Reitzel
Stefanini, a Michigan based information technology company, lost their contract with Ford and is forced to layoff 107 employees! Ford outsourced their new IT staff.
In Connecticut, Harman International Industries said that sales for 2012 were so bad they have to layoff 500 employees! This is on top of the planned layoff of 500 people in their European operations!
In Mississippi, high end stove maker Viking Range to layoff 140 people! They blame crashing sales. But wait there’s more: Viking’s founder, Fred Carl Jr, is retiring after earlier saying he would stay on for several more years. That’s because Viking is being taken over by a company called Middleby. On top of that, Viking is closing two cooking schools, one in Mississippi, and the other in Tennessee.
Smith & Nephew Orthopedics laying off 100 people in Tennessee and Massachusetts. They laid off 80 employees back in 2011, but this time they’re blaming the current round of layoffs on the new Obama/Romney Care excise tax on orthopedic device companies.
In Massachusetts, the D. Garbarino Company tobacco shop closed down. The family run business was 135 years old!
Pennsylvania based AmerisourceBergen closing down its New Jersey pharmaceutical distribution warehouse. At least 72 people out-o-work. Company officials refused to give a reason why. The company did recently renew a contract with nursing home pharmacy PharMerica. However, AmerisourceBergen is being investigated for possible kickbacks in several states, and facing a class action lawsuit by stockholders.
Advertising agency, Robinson Radio, now bankrupt. The Virginia based company blamed it on “…overly aggressive investments in personnel and additional operating expenses just before the 2008 economic crash and the continuing challenges of the advertising marketplace in the four years since the start of the recession.”
Also in Virginia, AZZ Galvanizing in Benwood closed down without notice. 20 people out-o-work. Corporate owners gave no reason, and a now former office manager is pissed: “We showed up to work as though it were any other workday and they were waiting there to take our jobs and leave us with nothing but a final paycheck. No severance package, no nothing!”-Tiffany Beckett (at least they got final paychecks, I didn’t even get that when my last employer, Metro Couriers, shut down)
Then there’s Impressions Plus Printing and Copying in Winchester, Virginia. They’ve shut down, 11 people laid off. Owners of the 27 years old business blame declining sales on the internet.
In Arizona, used car company Aufmuth now bankrupt. It’s because of massive debt. Officials with the 38 years old company hope the bankruptcy will let them re-group and continue business.
In Butte, Montana, Richards and Rochelle Men’s Store out-o-business. The clothing store first opened for business in 1915! The current owner says he can’t keep the store going anymore, and will now work part time as a pharmacist (he remembers when men’s pants were only $1.00).
In California, the Fremont Theater shut down after 70 years of operations.