Buy.com Clips Sports Channels, 125 Jobs
Web retailer Buy.com today said that it would eliminate its golf and sports channels as well as lay off more than half its workforce.Job cuts total 125 at the company's headquarters in Aliso Viejo, CA. The 5-year-old firm, which also has operations in the United Kingdom, had 230 employees prior to the cutbacks.
The moves were reportedly designed to reduce the firm's expenses by approximately $29 million annually. When combined with the company's other recent cash-minded moves, Buy.com expects to save $70 million annually. The restructuring will cost the Web retailer more than $32 million.
Buy.com also said that it planned to revise its 2001 forecast of $580 million in sales, but didn't elaborate further. However, the firm said it expects to be profitable by the fourth quarter.
The bad news follows the recent resignations of Gregory Hawkins, the company's chairman and chief executive, and Mitch Hill, its chief financial officer. Their departures came shortly after the company reported a year-over-year decline in fourth-quarter revenue and laid off 25 employees.
