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Lowe's To Lay Off Thousands Of Employees, Outsource Some Positions To Third Parties Lowe's To Lay Off Thousands Of Employees, Outsource Some Positions To Third Parties
Lowe's To Lay Off Thousands Of Employees, Outsource Some Positions To Third Parties Thousands of Lowe’s employees will soon be out of a job as the home improvement retail giant reshuffles positions. Lowe’s announced that it is planning to outsource the jobs of maintenance and assembly workers to third-party companies, including workers that put together certain items such as grills and wheelbarrows. The news of layoffs was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. It is unclear exactly how many employees are being laid off, but it is expected to be in the thousands. The company currently employs approximately 300,000 people in 1,725 stores nationwide. The layoffs come a…

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by Zak Failla
Business
Strike Costing Stop & Shop Millions Per Week As Biden Attends Rally With Striking Workers Strike Costing Stop & Shop Millions Per Week As Biden Attends Rally With Striking Workers
Strike Costing Stop & Shop Millions Per Week As Biden Attends Rally With Striking Workers Here are new developments in the Stop & Shop strike by union workers in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island: Former Vice President and potential 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden spoke Thursday, April 18 to support Stop & Shop workers at a Boston store in the neighborhood of Dorchester. For more, click here. Biden expressed his support for Stop & Shop workers in an April 12 tweet: "In the last 5 years, @StopandShop's parent company has bought back billions of dollars in stock. Now they want to cut employee wages & benefits. This is wrong. I stand with the 31,000 …

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by Donna Christopher
Business
Stop & Shop Management, Union Continue Negotiations As Strike Reaches Fifth Day Stop & Shop Management, Union Continue Negotiations As Strike Reaches Fifth Day
Stop & Shop Management, Union Continue Negotiations As Strike Reaches Fifth Day Stop & Shop and the United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) continued their negotiations Monday as 31,000 employees of the supermarket chain Ahold Delhaize USA continue to strike throughout New England, Supermarket News reports. The negotiations continued Monday, April 15 after running through the weekend. UFCW Locals 328, 371, 919, 1445 and 1459 walked off their jobs at over 240 Stop & Shop stores in New England April 11, said Supermarket News. When the strike began on Thursday, April 11, many stores were forced to close and customers were instructed to leave. But by Friday, …

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by Donna Christopher
Business
Dollar Tree To Shut Down 390 Family Dollar Stores Dollar Tree To Shut Down 390 Family Dollar Stores
Dollar Tree To Shut Down 390 Family Dollar Stores Dollar Tree is closing at least 390 Family Dollar stores and will rebrand 200 others, the company announced in releasing its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings this week. Dollar Tree CEO Gary Philbin announced the plans on Wednesday, which will include renovating some locations to sell alcohol and $1 Dollar Tree merchandise sections. As many as 400 stores will get expanded refrigeration sections and some Family Dollar discount stores will be rebranded to the Dollar Tree brand. In total, the discount chain lost approximately $2.3 billion by the end of the fourth quarter. “We are further acceler…

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by Zak Failla
Business
Big Retail, Food Chains Closing Shop In New York City In Record Numbers Big Retail, Food Chains Closing Shop In New York City In Record Numbers
Big Retail, Food Chains Closing Shop In New York City In Record Numbers Big business may be becoming a smaller thing in New York City as several large retailers and food chains continue a mass exodus. For the first time in more than a decade, nationally known chains are moving out of New York City, according to a brand-new report that was recently released. According to the study, nationally known retailers are moving out of the area in greater numbers than their coming in, marking the first time in 11 years. The Center for Urban Future determined that a record 124 retailers have reduced their store footprint over the past year, nearly double the 65 retailers t…

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by Zak Failla
Business
Stop & Shop To Acquire Chain Credited With Nation’s First Supermarket Stop & Shop To Acquire Chain Credited With Nation’s First Supermarket
Stop & Shop To Acquire Chain Credited With Nation’s First Supermarket Stop & Shop plans to buy a chain known for its title of "America's First Supermarket." King Kullen, headquartered in Bethpage, has 32 markets on Long Island. Also part of the deal are five Wild by Nature natural/organic supermarkets. “King Kullen is a well-respected grocery chain in the Long Island market that has an 88-year tradition of excellent customer service,” Stop & Shop President Mark McGowan said in a statement. “We look forward to bringing our quality, selection and value to more communities in Nassau and Suffolk counties.” Stop & Shop, which expec…

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by Joe Lombardi
Business
Sears Announces 40 New Store Closures, Including One In CT Sears Announces 40 New Store Closures, Including One In CT
Sears Announces 40 New Store Closures, Including One In CT Less than a month after it filed for bankruptcy and announced the closures of 142 Sears and Kmart stores, Sears Holdings is saying it's planning to close another 40 stores in February. The new round of closures means there will be roughly 660 Sears and Kmart stores still open. Liquidation sales at the 40 locations set to close will start late next week.  There are three stores slated to shut down in New York among those 40: Kmart 805 New York Ave., Huntington Sears, 3065 Route 50, Saratoga Springs Sears, 21182 Salmon Run Mall, Watertown  The one store in Connecticut in the ne…

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by Joe Lombardi
Business
Sears On Brink Of Bankruptcy, Report Says Sears On Brink Of Bankruptcy, Report Says
Sears On Brink Of Bankruptcy, Report Says After years of store closures, Sears, once the world's largest retailer, could be just days away from facing bankruptcy. The 125-year-old company, which has not turned a profit since 2010, has approached several banks to prepare for a bankruptcy filing, according to CNBC. Sears has a $134 million debt payment due Monday that it previously reported it cannot cover, the report said. Eddie Lampert, a hedge-fund manager who took over as Sears CEO in 2013, said in late September that despite changes in the way it does business, the future looked bleak for the once vibrant company. “The journey…

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by Joe Lombardi
Business
Sears CEO Raises Doubts About Company's Future, Citing 'Substantial Obstacles To Profitability' Sears CEO Raises Doubts About Company's Future, Citing 'Substantial Obstacles To Profitability'
Sears CEO Raises Doubts About Company's Future, Citing 'Substantial Obstacles To Profitability' Despite undergoing a paradigm shift and attempting to change gears in the way it does business, Sears continues hemorrhaging money, casting its future in doubt. Sears CEO Eddie Lampert said that his company has been “working hard to transform its business and unlock the value of its assets,” which includes a shift from traditional retailing to a more member-centric company. Despite these changes, things are looking bleak for the once vibrant company. “The journey to running a member-centric company on a consistently profitable basis has taken far longer than we expected,” Lampert said in a …

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by Zak Failla
Business
Sears Plans To Close 63 Stores Sears Plans To Close 63 Stores
Sears Plans To Close 63 Stores Click here for an updated story: Full List Of New Round Of Sears, Kmart Closures Announced Sears has announced another round of store closures as sales continue to decline. Sears Holdings Corp., which also owns Kmart, said in an earnings statement Thursday it plans to close 63 of about 100 nonprofitable stores. The company initially announced plans to close 72 stores, but later in the day adjusted that number to 63 stores: 48 Sears stores and 15 Kmart stores. Nine additional stores that it initially planned to announce would close will be evaluated further. There are 529 Sears stores an…

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by Joe Lombardi
Business
Jewelry Store Giant Claire's Files For Bankruptcy Jewelry Store Giant Claire's Files For Bankruptcy
Jewelry Store Giant Claire's Files For Bankruptcy Accessory and jewelry store giant Claire's filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Monday. Claire's Stores Inc. hopes to clear $1.9 billion in debt and close some underperforming stores. Claire's has locations in 99 percent of malls across the U.S., selling cubic zirconia jewelry and other low-priced accessories. The store claims to be the world’s leading ear piercer, having pierced over 100,000,000 ears worldwide, and nearly 3.5 million last year in the U.S. alone. Claire's has several locations across Fairfield County: Westfield Trumbull Mall CT Post Mall Stamford Town Center Danbury Fair Mal…

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by Cecilia Levine
Business
Toys 'R' Us Will Close All 800 Stores, Affecting 33,000 Jobs Toys 'R' Us Will Close All 800 Stores, Affecting 33,000 Jobs
Toys 'R' Us Will Close All 800 Stores, Affecting 33,000 Jobs Six months after filing for bankruptcy, Toys 'R' Us will close all 800 of its U.S. stores, affecting as many as 33,000 jobs at the 70-year-old toy store chain. The company made the announcement to employees on Wednesday, according to the Wall Street Journal. A company representative confirmed the report, but noted that there would not be an immediate shutdown. Toys 'R' Us was already in the process of closing about 180 stores.  In a conference call with employees, CEO David Brandon cited customers choosing to shop elsewhere and online as one of the main reasons for the closures. Toys 'R'…

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by Joe Lombardi