AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT STITCH FIX (07/15/23)

Am I Next? Hostile business climate in California impacts Stitch Fix.

JULY 15, 2023 — 393 EMPLOYEES IN BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA

The company is not renewing its lease and will be closing its Bethlehem, Pennsylvania distribution center with layoffs scheduled between September 2023 to February 2024.

The Dallas distribution center is also expected to close in 2024 as the company moves from its current five-distribution center network to a three-distribution center network.

JANUARY 5, 2023 — 20% OF THE SALARIED WORKFORCE TO BE LAID OFF, AND A FACILITY CLOSURE IN SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH.

A message from our Founder…

Today, I’m writing to share two significant changes. Firstly, I’m sharing the difficult news that we will be reducing the size of the Stitch Fix team by about 20% of salaried positions. In addition, we are closing our Salt Lake City distribution center, where our team is also impacted. We will be losing many talented team members from across the company and I am truly sorry. Everyone will get an email soon letting you know what this means for you.

Our priority today is to ensure that those leaving Stitch Fix are supported in their transition,

To those impacted: You took a chance on Stitch Fix, trusted us with your time and investment of yourself, and I am sincerely sorry that we are parting ways with you in this way today. Thank you for your hard work, dedication, and the many moments of joy and meaning that brought to your teams, our community, and our clients. Your contributions will have a lasting impact on our business and our culture, and for that we are all grateful. I know many of you will want to reach out to others within the Stitch Fix community, so your access to email and Slack will be open until later this afternoon.

Second, I also wanted to share that Elizabeth and the Board of Directors have made the difficult decision that Elizabeth will be stepping down as CEO to make room for a new leader. I am grateful for Elizabeth’s many contributions as President and then as CEO, and am thankful for her leadership during what has been an unprecedented time for our business and the world. Effective today, I will be stepping in as interim CEO and leading the search process for our next CEO. Despite the challenging moment we are in right now, the board and I still deeply believe in the Stitch Fix business, mission and vision. We know because of the hard work and foundation laid by this team that there is a great future available for this company and we are committed to getting the company on a path to achieve it.

All the best,

Katrina

OCTOBER 8, 2022 — FACILITY CLOSURES IN PENNSYLVANIA

The company is closing its sewing factory in Mohnton, Pennsylvania, and its knitting mill in Shillington, Pennsylvania. Facility closures are scheduled for October 28, 2022, with layoffs scheduled in stages beginning December 2, 2022.

According to a company statement, “As we focus on the strategies that support our return to profitable growth, notably increasing our number of active clients and optimizing our cost base, we have made the incredibly difficult decision to close our operations at Mohnton Mills. While this is the right decision for our business, it is a hard day for our team. We are committed to supporting them with severance payments that increase with tenure, extended healthcare, recruitment resources, and other benefits.”

JUNE 10, 2022 — STITCH FIX RESTRUCTURING WITH 330 LAYOFFS

The company has announced that it is laying off 15% of its salaried workers, or about 330 people, mostly in corporate roles and styling leadership positions.

According to Stitch Fix CEO Elizabeth Spaulding, “in light of our recent business momentum and an uncertain macroeconomic environment, we've taken a renewed look at our business and what is required to build our future. While this was an incredibly difficult decision, it was one needed to make to position ourselves for profitable growth.”

FEBRUARY 5, 2021 — CONTINUING BREAK-AWAY FROM CALIFORNIA WITH WAREHOUSE CLOSURE

The company continues to relocate operations outside of California with the closure of its San Francisco, California warehouse and the layoff of 182 employees by April 30, 2021.

The company’s other warehouse/distribution centers are located in Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia, Texas, and Indiana, where it has two facilities. An additional facility in Salt Lake City, Utah to serve the West Coast will be completed in October 2021.

JUNE 19, 2020 — Original post…

San Francisco, California-based Stitch Fix, an online clothing and accessories shopping platform based on algorithmic offerings and consultant-driven personal styling services, has announced that the company plans a major reduction in force as it prepares to expand its operations outside of California. The layoffs, scheduled to occur between July and September 2020, will impact 1,400 employees who function as "stylists" and operate remotely.

Stitch Fix noted that the layoffs were a strategic business decision and not related to the coronavirus pandemic.

According to a company spokesperson, "We have taken the very difficult decision to reduce the number of stylists in our styling team in California, as we invest in our other styling hubs across the U.S., and the innovations that will help evolve our experience in the future. All of our California-based stylists will be offered the opportunity to relocate to the new roles in other states, Any decision that impacts our hardworking and talented people is incredibly tough, but we believe this is the right thing to do for our business.”

The company plans to invest in lower-cost hubs in Austin and Dallas,Texas; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Cleveland, Ohio, and Minneapolis, Minnesota.

It appears that the decision may have been driven by California's hostile business environment which recently classified independent full and part-time contractors as company employees, eligible to receive costly company benefits available to other company employees.

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?