Fort Worth, Texas – RadioShack, now operating under Chapter 11, may shut its headquarters in March and dismiss its nearly 700 corporate staffers.
The bankrupt CE chain informed the Texas state labor commission last week of the possible closure under the requirements of the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN). The act compels employers with 100 or more workers to provide notification of any mass layoffs or plant closings 60 days beforehand.
In a letter to the state agency dated one day prior to its Chapter 11 filing and posted by the Dallas Business Journal, RadioShack said it will likely be “forced to permanently close company headquarters in its entirety” and dismiss all 683 corporate employees if it cannot find a strategic buyer by March 13.
The following day the company announced that majority shareholder and lead lender Standard General had agreed to purchase between 1,500 and 2,400 company-owned stores in a prepackaged bankruptcy plan, and would co-brand most of them with Sprint.
But details of the arrangement remain sketchy, including what role RadioShack branding, management, merchandising or sourcing might play in the new retail chain, which Sprint described as largely carrier-owned.
While that paints an uncertain future for the Fort Worth facility, the fate of at least one RadioShack distribution center and its 87 workers has already been sealed. Last week the retailer informed Maryland’s labor department that it will shut its Hagerstown, Md., facility on March 11.
Follow TWICE.com for continuing coverage of RadioShack’s reorganization.
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