Rugs USA told employees on Tuesday that it is closing Annie Selke Cos. Pecks Road headquarters and outlet in Pittsfield, and its Annie Selke store in Lenox, laying off 47 workers.
STEPHANIE ZOLLSHAN – THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE
PITTSFIELD — Rugs USA is closing The Annie Selke Cos. two locations in Pittsfield and Lenox by the end of the year, putting 47 employees out of work.
This brings the total workers laid off to at least 87 since the online discount rug giant bought parent company Fresh American LLC last year and laid off between 40 to 50 employees.
On Tuesday, three employees were let go immediately, including Fresh American LLC CEO Lori King, according to a number of sources familiar with the situation who spoke only on the condition their names not be printed.
The employees are “devastated, angry, hurt,” said one source. “These are people with families and mortgages.”
At least 40 Pittsfield workers are reportedly laid off after Annie Selke Cos. is sold to Rugs USA
Sources told The Eagle on Tuesday that Rugs USA corporate staff announced the changes in a video chat meeting. That was followed by an email from Rugs USA CEO Alyssa Steele. The closings will affect employees at the Pecks Road Pine Cone Hill outlet and corporate offices, as well as the Lenox retail shop.
The sources said the employees are all receiving severance packages.
All the sources said that the online rug discounter has appeared to be in financial trouble for some time, but that the Annie Selke brands are doing well.
The email sent by RugsUSA CEO Alyssa Steele to the Pittsfield and Lenox employees after they were told the two Annie Selke Cos. locations are closing by the end of the year.
They said that 30 employees of Rugs USA also were let go.
RugsUSA spokesperson Conor Tobin said in a statement that the company is “committed to doing everything we can to support our teammates through this transition with care and respect.” Tobin added that the company is “grateful for their contributions,” and that these steps will “sharpen our focus on business growth.”
The second page of the email from RugsUSA CEO Alyssa Steele.
A report that the two locations are closing was first shared on Facebook in a brief post by WAMC Public Radio reporter Josh Landes.
Fresh American LLC does business as The Annie Selke Cos. and its brands, Pine Cone Hill and Dash & Albert.
Founded in 1994, Annie Selke Cos. sells home decor that includes rugs, bedding, sleepwear and other accessories. Brands created by Annie Selke include Pine Cone Hill and a rug line, Dash & Albert.
Rugs USA is a discount retailer of rugs, furniture and other home decor. The company’s headquarters and warehouse is in Cranbury, N.J.
The company operates the Pine Cone Hill outlet store, warehouse and offices off Pecks Road in Pittsfield and the Annie Selke retail shop on Main Street in Lenox.
Rugs USA bought the company backed by San Francisco, Calif., private equity firm Francisco Partners, sources familiar with the sale previously told The Eagle. The company did not respond at the time to requests for comment.
It was mostly workers in the warehouse who were laid off last year after the purchase because the company was consolidating its inventory at its New Jersey location.
After the announcement about the most recent layoffs was made to staff, Rugs USA CEO Alyssa Steele sent employees an email on Tuesday explaining that the company is “realigning teams under functional expertise with multiple brands served within a function, significantly revising the Marketing function, and rethinking and exiting from some of our initiatives and capabilities.”
Steele went on to say that the home decor industry is struggling against market forces. The company, she said, has made “the difficult decision to separate team members from across the enterprise.”
She said that “actions like these are never easy,” and that she would share more details later in the week about why they were needed.
The sources said that, as far as they know, the company’s products will still be for sale at the annieselke.com website. There is, however, “No exact date of closing yet and no plan for liquidation.”
The only upside, said one source, is that, “there’s going to be a lot of really, really great talent that are people looking for jobs.”
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Publish date : 2024-09-11 10:00:00
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