More retailers have announced layoffs. Chico's, Bon-Ton and Eddie Bauer are all cutting their workforces.
The Bon-Ton Stores Inc., Eddie Bauer Holdings Inc. and Chico's FAS Inc. let forth a wave of pink slips Thursday, but they are just the latest to cut back spending and lay off workers as they adjust to the economic realities of 2009.
Bon-Ton said it would let go 1,150 workers, as Eddie Bauer trimmed 193 positions and Chico's reduced payrolls by about 180. The cuts came a day after Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. and The Wet Seal Inc. made similar, albeit smaller, reductions to head counts and during a week when corporate America -- including The Home Depot Inc., Starbucks Corp., Boeing Co., Sprint Nextel Corp. and Caterpillar Inc. -- hemorrhaged jobs. Target Corp. and Quiksilver Inc. also recently laid off employees.
Separately on Thursday, Chico's revealed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that Michele Cloutier, president of the Chico's brand, had resigned, although the move appears to have more to do with the company's transition under its new chief executive officer, David Dyer, than any effort to downsize.
Bud Bergren, president and ceo of Bon-Ton, told WWD, "In this environment, our sales, as well as those of all the other retailers, are down, and you have to rightsize the company."
The number of American workers filing for unemployment is rising at a very fast pace. The unemployment rate in December reached 7.2% and expected to top out at around 8 or 9%, say most economists.
