The body count from a brutal economy continued to mount last week as four more major manufacturers announced operation restructuring plans to welcome in what has been an exceptionally frosty New Year for vendors and retailers across the board.
Head N.V. Group plans to close its tennis ball factory in Phoenix, AZ in March. Additionally, Head plans to propose at its Annual General Meeting in May 2009 that Gunter Hagspiel be elected by shareholders as its CFO. Hagspiel has been with Head since 1996 and has held a number of positions within the group. Ralf Bernhart will continue to act as the companys CFO until the time of the annual general meeting, the company said, and will become Deputy Chairman of the Management Board thereafter. As of March 1, Klaus Hotter will assume additional responsibility for bindings and ski boots production. Jeremy Sherwood has expanded his role to become director of group sales and marketing and Rick Lalonde will now cover North America wintersports as well as being GM of Canada.
TaylorMade-adidas Golf Company reported it will make a workforce reduction of 70 employees from across all areas of the company, a move TMaG said is a direct response to “today's uncertain global economic climate.”
Russell Corp. announced the “phasing out” of its fabric operation in Alexander City, AL, and the accompanying layoff of more than 250 employees due to the economy and increasing costs and import pressures from Asia. Jim Martin, Russell fabrics general manager, said the total impact on employment was not yet known, but “the company will be working to pursue other employment opportunities within the organization.”
Russell Corp., a division of Berkshire Hathaways Fruit of the Loom, also announced a name change to Russell Brands, LLC.
Wolverine World Wide, Inc. has also announced a restructuring plan that the company said will “create significant operating efficiencies, improve its supply chain and create a stronger global brand platform.” The plan will include “workforce reductions” among both salaried and hourly staff along with a realignment of U.S. manufacturing operations and the consolidation of North American distribution operations into existing Michigan warehouses. European distributions operations will also be consolidated into one facility. Representatives said the company would likely close its Rockford, MI-based leather tanning facility as it outsources its leather processing operations. The company said the plan represents the second phase of a top-to-bottom strategic review of the company's branded businesses and related infrastructure. The first phase of this review resulted in Wolverine's decision over a year ago to exit several non-core businesses.
WWW estimates pretax charges related to the restructuring plan will range from $31 million to $36 million. Approximately $9 million to $10 million of this estimate represents non-cash charges. When fully implemented, they expect the restructuring plan to result in a net reduction of approximately 450 employee positions and will generate an annualized pretax benefit in the range of $17 million to $19 million.
“We will ensure that all those impacted will be treated with the utmost respect and receive our assistance with their transition,” said CEO and president Blake W. Krueger in a written statement.
In other news, Wolverine will acquire the Cushe (pronounced “cushy”) footwear brand, a move the company said will drive new global opportunities and leverage the strength of Wolverines business model and operating infrastructure. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
