An iconic home retailer now makes unexpected store closures as 17 locations abruptly shutter due to ‘financial issues’.
The Kelly-Moore Paints locations were closed just days before the new year, leaving employees out of work for the start of 2024, reports The-Sun.
Stores throughout Texas, Oklahoma, and California were closed, and the company’s paint manufacturing facility in Hurst, Texas, has temporarily halted production.
Kelly-Moore said it will continue to fulfill online orders and stock retail stores with products it already has.
Jordan Wilson worked at one of the Texas stores that closed and exclusively told The U.S. Sun about how the news was delivered.
On the morning of January 5, Kelly-Moore’s chief executive officer, Charles Gassenheimer, announced over a Zoom call that the company was having “financial issues” and 700 employees would be placed on furlough, he said.
It would last until a deal could be reached with an outside investor, and there were allegedly three deals in the making.
Gassenheimer also said there would be limited production during the furlough to clear out existing inventory.
“I am one of the 700, and with 9 years in service at Kelly-Moore, and many others with much longer, we never expected to see anything like this,” said Wilson.
“On top of the 700 lives, this furlough has caused understaffed stores and limited production in the factory, which will cause a loss of customers, which in turn will lead to a loss of business, then the company dies.
“I don’t think many of the 700 can afford to just sit around and hope, and trust that things will get better and they will get their jobs back. I sure can’t!
“My thoughts are that the Flacks group is gearing up to sell Kelly-Moore to the highest bidder and get out with as much money as they can.”
He is referring to Flacks Group, an investment firm that bought Kelly-Moore in October 2022.
Kelly-Moore has been grappling with thousands of asbestos litigation claims for the last 30 years.
Under previous ownership, asbestos was used in cement and texture products until 1981 when the practice was discounted.
However, existing lawsuits led to a “cash drain” that left Kelly-Moore’s finances “severely constrained.”
The company has struggled to address supply chain issues that were exacerbated by the pandemic due to the lack of cash.
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Other Economy News Today
A beloved and massive book retailer is now closing its stores after announcing a major sale at one of its prominent locations.
Books-A-Million in Lafayette, Louisiana is currently hosting a closing sale at its 4419 Ambassador Caffery Parkway location, selling novels, cookbooks and more with massive discounts, reports The-Sun.
Books-A-Million has hundreds of locations nationwide, stretching across the East Coast, Mid West, and Southern United States.
The closing sale began on December 24, a Books-A-Million associate confirmed to The U.S. Sun over the phone.
The associate was unable to confirm when the closing sale is scheduled to end and when the store will officially shut its doors, claiming that information has not been shared on the “store-level.”
The closing sale varies throughout the store, with discounts mainly ranging between 20% to 30%.
The company recently closed another location in Jackson, Mississippi.
City officials claimed the store had been struggling to make sales and keep up with online competitors, according to ABC News affiliate WBLT.
As Lafayette customers anticipate the imminent closure of the Books-A-Million store, many have taken to social media urging fellow book lovers to take advantage of the closing sale while it lasts.
“FYI: Books-A-Million in Lafayette is closing,” one shopper wrote in December.
She claimed that an employee had said the original late date for the closing sale was December 31.
“One of the books I bought today isn’t scheduled to be released until the 26th, so I highly recommend going!!!!”
“Went to Books a Million today in Lafayette,” another said on January 7.
“They are going out of business, so have a big sale going on. Thought I would go look for books to have in the nursery. They still have tons of books but are running out on their baby and early learning books.”
“Books-A-Million in Lafayette is closing and is having a “Everything must go sale”. If you love to read you need to get there ASAP!” a third said.
As of Thursday, the store was still open.
Following the store’s closure, book lovers will not have to travel far to pick up their favorite stories.
Popular bookstore 2nd & Charles, which is the sister store of Books-A-Million, will be opening later this year in the River Marketplace shopping center in Lafayette, HOT 107.9 reported.
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