Famous Retailer Is Now Laying Off 614 People in California

April 1, 2024

A famous retailer is now laying off 614 people in California due to a new acquisition resulting in a new restructuring plan.

Boardriders Wholesale LLC is laying off 614 people in California due to the “recent acquisition by Authentic Brands Group and resulting restructure,” according to state WARN data.

They layoffs began in January with the next round expected by April 26.

Those affected include C-suite executives and other management positions, reports Fashion Dive.

This round of layoffs follows a similar move in September and October 2023, when 84 Boardriders employees were laid off as a result of Authentic Brands Group’s acquisition of the company.

Authentic acquired Boardriders in September 2023.

The previous round of layoffs were also part of restructuring efforts, and employees affected also included C-suite executives.

Boardriders cut 170 jobs in 2022 to reorganize ahead of the Authentic acquisition.

Because of the Authentic deal, “the Company is initiating necessary but difficult measures,” Jennifer Marques, chief human resources officer, wrote in Boardriders’ letter to the California Employment Development Department.

The latest cuts bring the total number of people laid off in California since the Authentic acquisition to 698.

“Authentic’s bench strength is in acquiring great brands with broken business models, converting them into a licensing model, and returning them to profitability,” David Brooks, executive vice president of action & outdoor sports and lifestyle at Authentic, said in an email to Fashion Dive.

“Brands must continue to evolve their business models to thrive and remain competitive.

Embracing change is essential to staying relevant, and part of that change includes our licensing partners taking over key functions and, unfortunately, eliminating certain positions.

These decisions are not taken lightly, but we are pleased that our partners have been able to take on upwards of 5,000 employees globally.”

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Also Read: A Massive Chain with 6,805 Locations Now Begins To Close

Other Economy News Today

A massive essential retailer is now closing 160 locations to accelerate profitability, including recent rightsizing of their cost structure.

Walgreens announced that it will be closing several of its majority-owned Village MD, which operates in tandem with the pharmacy and offers both virtual and in-person primary care support.

Walgreens CEO Tim Wentworth told analysts that it’s working with Village MD to take “actions to accelerate profitability, including recent rightsizing of their cost structure, optimizing their clinic footprint, and growing patient panels,” during the Q2 2024 earnings call on Thursday.

He added that this will mean consolidation of some under performing locations.

“As Village prioritizes density in their highest opportunity markets, they decided in January to exit a total of approximately 160 clinics, inclusive of the 60 that had been previously communicated. As of today, they have already exited 140 locations,” Wentworth continued.

While Walgreens maintains Village MD is working to put the service right-side-up, it’s not yet seeing a turn of profit that it may have originally anticipated.

“GAAP net loss for the second quarter included a $5.8 billion noncash impairment charge related to VillageMD goodwill,” CFO Manmohan Mahajan said on the earnings call, adding, “In February, we received a downward revised longer-term forecast from VillageMD management.”

Still, Mahajan doesn’t foresee the charges as having an significant impact on our financial position or our ability to invest across businesses going forward,” adding that, “During the first half of fiscal ‘24, we have seen positive financial impacts from the recent actions taken by VillageMD management team to accelerate profitability.“

Village MD operates approximately 600 locations, with Walgreens operating about 200 full-sized locations alongside its pharmacy.

It owns about 60% of Village MD, perTheStreet.

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Also Read: A Home Improvement Retailer Now Closes All 157 Stores

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