AM I NEXT? NO LOVE -- CLOSURE AND LAYOFFS AT COLORTREE GROUP

Richmond, Virginia-based Colortree Group, a commercial print and direct mail vendor, has abruptly shut down its operations, closed its doors, and laid off approximately 240 employees. It appears that the financially struggling company simply ran out of money and could no longer sustain operations. The employees were shocked to find the doors locked upon their arrival and were instructed to call a phone number for details.

In a letter to the State Dislocated Worker Unit of the Virginia Employment Commission, President and CEO Pat Patterson noted, “This letter is being provided to you in accordance with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (“WARN Act”) in order to notify you that Colortree Group, located at 8000 Villa Park Drive, Henrico, Virginia, will be closing some or all of its divisions of the Company, Many of Colortree’s approximately 240 employees at this worksite will be laid off as a result. The anticipated closure of certain Colortree divisions, and resulting layoffs, will be permanent. The Company hopes to accomplish this closure with as little disruption as possible to the lives of our employees and the community.”

Patterson’s company, Stingem Management Group became the sole owner of Colortree after acquiring the company from Boathouse Capital, a private equity firm. Ironically, Patterson, a highly accomplished manager of printing operations, believed in a business philosophy called TOC, Theory of Constraints, which posits that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link and the role of a manager is to identify and manage the identified constraints – and of course, the biggest constraint is the possible for the business to be revived by an infusion of funds from the customers, a competitor, or by acquisition.

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life, or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?

AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT QUAD GRAPHICS (o1/20/24)

JANUARY 20, 2024 — 3 PLANT CLOSURES: SARATOGA SPINGS, NY; BOLINGBROOK, ILLINOIS; ANS WEST SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA

The company announced today that it will cease operations at three facilities in the first half of 2024 as part of the company’s ongoing strategy to optimize its platform within the ever-changing media landscape.

Quad said the decision to close was due to industry trends including the volume of certain print categories such as magazines and increase in postal costs.

Impacts:

56 employees at the West Sacramento, California printing plant by February 22, 2024.

75 employees at the Bolingbrook, Illinois, mail processing and logistics facility by February 24, 2024. Work from that facility will be relocated to company facilities in Sussex and Martinsburg, West Virginia.

435 employees at the Saratoga Springs, New York newsweekly magazines printing plant by May 4, 2024.

Quad Chairman, President, and CEO Joel Quadracci noted, “Quad continues to optimize our platform for our future as a marketing experience, or MX, a company that provides all the resources companies need for frictionless marketing execution. Print remains an important and strategic part of our integrated marketing platform that includes solutions across all channels – traditional and digital.”

Work will be shifted to other Quad facilities located in Wisconsin, West Virginia, Georgia, and Massachusetts.

DECEMBER 19, 2020 — SHUT DOWN OF OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA FACILITY WITH 400 LAYOFFS; TWO OTHER PLANTS TARGETED

The company has announced the shutdown of its 1 million-square-foot printing plant and the layoff of 400 employees in Oklahoma City. The closure is scheduled for March 2021. Operations will be transferred to other Quad Graphics facilities.

Two other plants in Nashville, Tennessee, and Fernley, Nevada are targeted for closure.

The move follows the layoff of 1,100 employees and the closure of printing plants in California, Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Oregon earlier this year.

The decisions are being driven by the decline in printed materials in favor of electronic communications and the global decline in available retail, commercial, and industrial printing.

DECEMBER 5, 2017 — Original post…

Quad Graphics has announced that it will lay off 200 people when its Taunton facility is shuttered in early 2018. With the explosion of Internet marketing, electronic forms, and e-books, traditional book, catalog, and retail advertising printers are struggling mightily. Top-tier printers have gone so far as to separate business functions into new entities to capture any rise in Wall Street valuations.

Quad Graphic’s happy talk continues as evidenced by this blurb accompanying their Third Quarter earnings announcement.

“Our third-quarter results were in line with our expectations, reflecting the continued great work our team is doing to sustainably reduce costs, win profitable new work, and expand relationships with existing clients,” said Joel Quadracci, Chairman, President & CEO of Quad/Graphics. “Through our consistent, disciplined approach to managing all aspects of our business, we remain the industry’s high-quality, low-cost producer. Our sales momentum, which includes securing exclusive multi-year, multi-million-dollar contracts with premier publishers, retailers, and marketers, will fuel Quad/Graphics’ ongoing strategic transformation to expand our integrated marketing services platform, which helps brand owners improve both process efficiencies and marketing spend effectiveness. In Quad 3.0 we are transforming into a marketing services provider that helps brand owners market their products, services, and content more efficiently and effectively. This transformation creates significant value for our clients by addressing their urgent marketing needs.”

These types of layoffs reflect the normal ebb and flow of business and represent a permanent risk to employees who believe today will be the same as yesterday, and tomorrow will be the same as today.

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?