LAYOFFS: NO LOVE AT ARMSTRONG WORLD INDUSTRIES (07/214/22)

JULY 14, 2022 — 238 LAYOFFS WITH PLANT CLOSINGS IN MISSISSIPPI AND OKLAHOMA

The company filed for bankruptcy in May hoping to avoid closings, but in the long run, operations in Jackson, Mississippi, and Stillwater, Oklahoma, are being shuttered.

The Lancaster, Pennsylvania-based company entered into an agreement to sell the company to Mountville, Pennsylvania-based flooring manufacturer AHF, LLC, and Boston, Massachusetts-based liquidation and restructuring firm for $107 million.

110 employees will be impacted in Jackson and 128 employees in Stillwater.

MAY 20, 2022 —606 FACE LAYOFF IN LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA

The company has notified the Pennsylvania Commonwealth that 606 employees, the entire workforce, are facing layoffs on June 17, 2022, unless a buyer can purchase the company out of bankruptcy.

According to Armstrong Flooring Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer John C. Bassett…

“While we remain committed to successfully completing our sale process, it is possible that we may be unable to identify a buyer that will both address the company’s debt and also allow us to continue to operate as a going concern,” reads part of Bassett’s message to workers, which was obtained Friday by LNP | LancasterOnline. “If we are unable to find such a buyer, we would be forced to shut down some or all of our operations. Under these circumstances, our legal obligations require us to provide notice that there may be total closures of company facilities commencing June 17 …. We would expect such closures to be permanent and for all company facilities to close,” Bassett wrote to Armstrong workers. “If we are unable to avoid closures … affected employees are expected to be separated from employment on June 17, 2022, or within 14 days thereafter.”

The COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain challenges and pressures from inflation, and harsh restrictions from lenders have been blamed as significant factors leading to the bankruptcy. “Simply stated, the company’s increasing costs significantly outpaced its pricing power,” said President and CEO Michel S. Vermette in the bankruptcy filing. 

MARCH 28, 2018 — Original post…

n a move announced last year, Armstrong World Industries Inc., based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, is proceeding with the closure of their St. Helens, Oregon mineral fiber ceilings manufacturing facility with a permanent layoff of 126 employees.

Armstrong CEO Vic Grissle said the St. Helens plant was “simply no longer required in our system” and that operations were being transferred to other facilities.

Armstrong's spokesperson, Jennifer Johnson highlighted a number of manufacturing and distribution issues that impacted the decision to close the facility. According to Johnson, “The market is changing and our customers are demanding higher-end acoustical laminated products that St. Helens can’t make without significant investment in the facility, and after looking closely at that route, it became clear it was cost-prohibitive.” Additionally, the distribution function was impacted by the area’s logistics capabilities, specifically the lack of carrier availability centralized routing, and transportation costs. 

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?

NO LOVE A SUPERVALU FARM FRESH MARKETS & PHARMACIES

Another mass layoff of 1,000 employees as Minnesota-based Supervalu, Inc. continues to restructure its retail operations to transform its business into an even larger nationwide wholesale supplier of grocery to other retailers.

In this phase, Supervalu will abandon the 60-year old Farm Fresh brand and its stores and pharmacies serving Virginia and North Carolina. Some of the stores will be sold to other retailers who may accommodate some of the displaced workers. 

Of course, Supervalu President and CEO Mark Gross offered up the obligatory corporate-speak, “This decision was not taken lightly given the impact on our employees and the communities we serve, but we strongly believe this decision is in the best long-term financial and strategic interest of our business. Our leadership team and board of directors remain committed to taking proactive steps to transform our business and drive stockholder value.”

In 2016, Supervalu sold Save-A-Lot and its network of approximately 1,350 retail locations. In 2017 Supervalu acquired Unified Grocers and Associated Grocers of Florida.

The employees are not the only ones at risk.

Blackwells Capital is seeking to nominate six director candidates to the nine-member Supervalu Board of Directors, effectively taking over control of the company. As you may imagine, the present Board and executives are not pleased and have issued a statement. 

“The Board and management team already have SUPERVALU’s transformation strategy well underway, and do not believe the changes to the Board proposed by Blackwells are necessary to ensure the continued execution of the Company’s initiatives to create stockholder value.

As previously disclosed, members of our Board and management team have had several discussions and meetings with representatives of Blackwells over the last several months to discuss overlapping objectives and attempt to reach a constructive path forward. Nonetheless, Blackwells has chosen to respond with a public campaign and an attempt to take effective control of the Company.

However, and as previously announced, we are committed to Board refreshment and will consider Blackwells’ candidates as we would any other potential directors to assess their ability to add value to the Board and the Company for the benefit of all stockholders.”

This appears to be another prime example where the employees are at risk from company boards and executives struggling to keep their position in the face of activist investors who only care about the financial returns and are divorced from any other considerations such as impacts on individuals and communities. 

Are you asking yourself, Am I Next?

NO LOVE AT BON-TON STORES (UPDATED)

The massacre of retailing in malls and shopping centers continues with the closing of Bon-Ton Store’s Carson’s and Bergner department stores in Illinois and the lay off of 330 employees. Bon-Ton has filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

In a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, “The Company’s stores, e-commerce and mobile platforms under the Bon-Ton, Bergner's, Boston Store, Carson's, Elder-Beerman, Herberger’s and Younkers nameplates are open and operating as usual. As previously announced, the Company is closing 47 stores in 2018, four of which closed in January and one store that is near completion and 42 additional at which store closing sales began on February 1, 2018, and will run for approximately 10 to 12 weeks.” 

UPDATE: MAY 17, 2018

It appears that Bon-Ton, which entered bankruptcy in February 2018  cannot find a buyer for its stores and is starting to shut down operations, laying off up to 1,800 area employees and liquidating inventory before shutting the doors.  This according to the State of Illinois Monthly WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) Activity Listing for April 2018.  

UPDATE: MAY 18, 2018

It appears that the count employee layoffs is increasing and now appears to be over 2,000. employees.

Are you asking yourself, Am I Next?