Foot Locker, Inc. notified the state and employees that it will close its distribution center in Wausau, WI, in 2023, affecting 210 jobs.
The facility is located at 500 N. 72nd Avenue, Wausau, WI.
In a letter to the Department of Workforce, Wausau Mayor Katie Rosenberg and the North Central Wisconsin Workforce Development Board, the retailer said the facility was closing to drive efficiencies.
“We are writing to provide notice that Foot Locker, Inc. has identified opportunities to optimize our U.S. distribution network to serve our customers nationwide more efficiently and effectively. As a result, we are phasing out distribution operations at our Wausau, WI facility, beginning on January 31, 2023, and closing this facility on or about April 30, 2023. The entire facility will be closed, all employees at the facility will be affected, and this closure is expected to be permanent,” Footlocker wrote in the letter.
In a statement to NewsChannel 7, Cara Tocci, vice president, global corporate communications, Foot Locker, Inc. said, “As part of our efforts to optimize our U.S. distribution network to serve our customers nationwide more efficiently and effectively, we are phasing out distribution operations at our Wausau, WI, facility. We take these types of decisions seriously. We are working with the impacted team members to provide potential opportunities within the company, a competitive severance package, a stay bonus, and career services support.”
The first layoffs will take place on January 31, 2023, and will affect 162 employees.
Foot Locker expects that the second layoff will be on or before April 30, 2023 and to affect 48 employees.
Eastbay, a subsidiary of Foot Locker, was founded in Wausau in 1980.
