Mason Companies Inc. purchased Figi's in 2013 Marshfield, Wisconsin-based Figi’s, one of the nation’s older mail-order gourmet foods and gift baskets catalogs is closing down its catalog operations and laying of 276 employees in two phases.
Phase one will be the immediate termination of 129 employees leaving 147 employees to man the operation of the call center and warehouse/shipping operation as the business winds down.
Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin-based Mason Companies purchased Figi’s in 2013 believing they could turn around the under-performing catalog retailer. Unfortunately, in spite of a multi-million dollar cash injection, the turnaround failed and there were no successful bidders for the current operation.
The mail-order catalog business model has been impacted by changing consumer tastes and pretty much disintermediated by online operations and the high costs of continuing mailings to large lists.
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