Call it the January curse. A year ago, Signetics announced it would close its plant in Orem, casting 900 people out of work.
On Monday, Sears, Roebuck and Co. announced plans to close more than 100 stores and discontinue its telecatalog centers, including one in Provo that employs about 1,700 people. The center employs 11 full-time management personnel, while the rest - mostly students and retirees - work part time.The Sears department store in Provo won't be effected, according to Larry Kennedy, store manager. However, Sears stores in Price, Moscow, Idaho, and an automotive store in Boise are being closed, Kennedy said.
Sears officials did not release a timetable for the local closures. Shirley Fausett, manager of the Price store, said she anticipates that store, which employs three full-time and four part-time people, will close within 60 days.
The news filtered across national news outlets before employees at Sears Telecatalog center in Provo officially got word of the closures in a meeting Monday.
"I'm kind of upset. It's a shock," said Kris Brower, who's worked in the telecatalog center since November. "It kind of ruins my plans. I was planning to go to school in the summer and work part time. I don't know what to do now. Everybody is kind of surprised."
Sears opened the telecatalog center in Provo's East Bay Business Park in Provo four years ago. It served customers in eight Western states.
Sears plans to trim 16,000 full-time jobs and 34,000 part-time ones through the closures, the company said. All the changes, approved by the Sears board Saturday, should be completed by early 1994, the Chicago-based company said.
A major part of the cutback will be discontinuation of Sears' traditional catalog business. The spring 1993 catalog will be its last, and orders from it will be accepted until the end of the year. Sears produced its first general merchandise catalog, which came to be known as the "big book," in 1896.
"This was a very difficult decision because the catalog is our heritage. It's how Sears started," said Arthur C. Martinez, Sears Merchandise Group chairman and chief executive officer.
He said, though, that the U.S. catalog had after-tax losses ranging from $135 million to $175 million in each of the past three years.
"We have concluded that we cannot improve our market position or achieve an acceptable return on investment fast enough or with sufficient certainty to justify remaining in the business," he added.
Sears still plans to circulate smaller specialty and promotional catalogs in 1993.
Provo Sears employee Heather Pugmire said employees knew plans were afoot to close smaller stores and some retail stores.
"But we didn't think it was going to touch the catalog centers," she said. "I'm sorry it happened."
Provo Economic Development Director Gary Golightly said he received a personal call from Jim Rohrer, national manager of Sears Telecatalog Centers, Monday.
"He called to apologize," Golightly said. "He said Provo has the best workforce of any of its centers and that he'd like to find a way to use that great workforce."
Golightly is already working to find another tenant for the building, which is owned by an unidentified individual. He said several companies are interested in the site.
"Sears was a great boon to us because it fit right in with our demographics (people interested in part-time work)," Golightly said.
Sears said it would close 113 retail stores, most small to medium-size. Closing dates will vary and were not immediately announced, although the company indicated some stores would be identified later today.
Sears operates more than 850 stores, including more than 400 of the small and medium-size stores.
Sears plans to offer early retirement incentives to some employees.