VF Corporation, the parent of the Dickies, Jansport, Timberland, The North Face, Smartwool, and Vans, among other outdoor and street lifestyles brands, is closing its Martinsville, VA distribution center (DC) in March 2025. The company previously announced plans in May this year to close the 500,000-square-foot DC as a distribution point for the East Coast.

Distribution operations will reportedly move to California.

The other VF Corp. operation moving to California (wasn’t VF Corp. based in California?) is the company’s entire Fort Worth, TX-based Dickies business, which is moving to Vans’ HQ by May of next year.

In total, the two moves are expected to affect over 360 positions.

VF Corp. Shuttering East Coast DC
On November 15, VF Corp. filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) regarding the final plans for the closure and its impact on employees. The filing, dated November 15, 2024, will affect 242 employees and have an impact date of January 19, 2025.

A Service Employees International Union (SEIU) representative reportedly confirmed the layoffs and noted that the union had negotiated a severance package.

In a statement, a VF spokesperson explained that the decision to close the Martinsville DC was part of the company’s Reinvent strategy and noted that it would ship through its Ontario, CA distribution center and a third-party logistics provider going forward.

The Martinsville DC will remain operational until March 2025, and VF Corp. said it intends to support its employees during the transition.

Dickies Exiting Fort Worth After 102 Years
In other VF Reinvent news, the company’s Dickies business is exiting Fort Worth, TX and moving to Costa Mesa, CA. The good news is it will be easy to get trucks to tackle the move, as most other moves are heading East, not West.

The Dickies brand and its Williamson-Dickie parent have operated in Fort Worth, TX, for over 102 years, many of those years in the same historic building.

In January 2022, VF moved the Dickies business and 102 years of history in its Dickies museum out of its iconic 509 West Vickery location and into a more modern site and reportedly spent $4.5 million in the design, upfit and renovations.

The move to California, presumably to put the brand closer to its new target business in the skate and street lifestyle space and consolidate operations with its sister company, Vans, will reportedly affect approximately 120 employees.

The Dickies operation, occupying the relatively new 65,000-square-foot office space facility in Fort Worth, will be woven into the Vans offices.

VF reported that it expects to complete the relocation by May 2025.

“While this move will support the revitalization of the Dickies brand, it will impact a significant number of positions held by our Dickies associates at the Fort Worth headquarters. These kinds of decisions are never made lightly,” VF added. “We are deeply grateful for our Dickies associates’ dedication and hard work and want to recognize the camaraderie and commitment they have shown to the brand.”

S&P Rating Downgrade
These moves follow recent reports from S&P, which lowered VF’s rating from “BBB—” to “BB.” S&P said that the downgrade indicates that while the company may be less vulnerable in the short term, it faces significant challenges due to adverse business and economic conditions.

Images courtesy VF Corp./Dickies