Liberty House
dropping 23
more jobs

The layoffs bring the total
number of positions lost
since 1997 to 1,350

By Peter Wagner
Star-Bulletin

Liberty House plans to lay off 23 employees next month, the latest of 1,350 job eliminations since September 1997 in an aggressive effort to cut costs and restructure the bankrupt retailer.

Barbara Tunno, vice president of marketing, yesterday confirmed 23 employees will be let go Nov. 14. "We're committed to making the tough decisions necessary to return this company to profitability," she said.

The affected employees, administrative workers in the company's head office, will receive severance benefits and job counseling, she said. Tunno would not say if more cuts are anticipated.

Liberty House's work force has dropped from about 4,500 to 3,150 in the past year.

The company in February laid off 146 workers, a month before filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Tunno said a total of 209 employees have so far been let go with severance benefits while an additional 1,141 jobs were cut through attrition, store closings and vacant positions. Sixteen resort and specialty stores have been closed this year. The stores, marginally profitable, were closed to concentrate on the core department stores.

The new job cuts were made possible by combining job responsibilities and making use of a recently installed computer system.

"As managers, it's our job to look at more cost-effective ways to do our jobs," Tunno said.

While the store closings and fine-tuning has cut into sales, Liberty House officials are pleased with progress made. "Things are going quite well," Tunno said, noting the store's Rainbow Sale has been a success and inventory is back to normal for the first time since March.