Duluth-Based Maurices Announces ‘Painful’ Layoffs

Maurices Downtown Duluth Headquarters

DULUTH, Minn. – Duluth-based retailer Maurices says it has made the “painful” decision to lay off 10 percent of its corporate office positions.

Maurices told FOX 21 on Thursday that 14 associates are being impacted at the downtown Duluth office, and 29 employees from its Brooklyn, New York design office and remote workers.

Maurices Chief Administrative Officer Sue Ross said the layoffs are a result of the company now leveraging vendors for portions of its design work.

Maurices Chief Administrative Officer Sue Ross

“The layoffs were handled with as much humanity as possible. Maurices is a proven retailer with 93 years of history, but we are not immune to the pressure and challenges gripping so many industries today.  Reducing our teams is painful, but ultimately this decision is about preserving the long-term sustainability of our organization,” Ross said in a statement.

All associates impacted have been offered a severance package, including salary, benefits, and outplacement, according to Ross.

In April of last year, 24 employees were let go within corporate office and field positions.  The reduction in staffing was needed at the time to deal with the economic downturn and challenging market conditions, according to company officials.

Maurices was established in 1931.  The women’s apparel retailer currently operates roughly 900 stores across the U.S. and Canada.

Below is the full statement from Maurices on the layoffs:

Maurices today announced new changes to how it develops its product. The change leverages strategic vendors to complete portions of the design and technical design work. As a result, there was a reduction-in-force impacting 14 associates in Duluth and 29 team members working remote throughout the U.S. or in the Brooklyn, NY design office.

Sue Ross, Chief Administrative Officer at Maurices said, “We believe in this proven model, which is very similar to how we’ve built assortments in the past. We have strong relationships with strategic sourcing vendors who will regularly be in Duluth to work alongside our product teams co-creating assortments. Unfortunately, the result of the restructuring impacted approximately 10% of our corporate office positions, which includes associates based in Duluth, Brooklyn or working remotely. These are difficult decisions and all associates impacted have been offered a severance package including salary, benefits, and outplacement.”

Ross added, “The layoffs were handled with as much humanity as possible. Maurices is a proven retailer with 93 years of history, but we are not immune to the pressure and challenges gripping so many industries today.  Reducing our teams is painful, but ultimately this decision is about preserving the long-term sustainability of our organization.”