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(Lead Image by Robert Carter for the Los Angeles Times)
After four decades in the sportswear industry, Eastbay will permanently be closing. The Wausau-based company was known for their iconic catalogs that took sneaker shopping to a new level throughout the 90’s and early 2000’s.
With the growth of e-commerce, Eastbay shifted to web during the 2010’s and the brand’s popular catalogs began to lose dominance within the sneaker space.
While the Foot Locker-owned company has managed to uphold its business since then, there’s no denying that the market has evolved and become consistently challenging to adapt to.
In a statement, Footlocker says the decision is “a result of efforts to optimize distribution processes in order to serve their nationwide customers more efficiently and effectively.”
From a hyperlocal standpoint, Eastbay’s closure will greatly impact the city of Wausau, Wisconsin, being that more than 200 employees will be laid off as the Eastbay-Footlocker Service Center closes.
Wausau Mayor Katie Rosenberg said in a statement, “Eastbay and Foot Locker have been employment pillars in our community for decades so this is understandably hard news for our community and the 200 employees who are affected.”
The closure will happen in two segments. Around 160 employees will be laid off on January 30th, with the remaining 50 employees working until closing day on April 30, 2023.
“[The] business leadership has to make strategic decisions as to where the global economy is, where the labor market is, what the cost of doing business is, transportation or anything that comes with a distribution center,” said Dave Eckmann, the President & CEO of the Wausau Chamber of Commerce.
“We haven’t had a lot of warn notices lately just because of the intensity of the economy and the labor market,” Eckmann continued. “The economy may be shifting and we all have to look at that as we watch what inflation is doing and the cost of energy is doing, they all have local impacts.”
The notice of permanent closure comes after BSN SPORTS announced in June 2022 that it acquired the assets of the Eastbay Team Sales business from Foot Locker Retail, Inc.
Team Sales is a division of Eastbay that handles custom uniforms, jerseys, and equipment. Acquiring the Team Sales division of Eastbay is beneficial to BSN SPORTS as the Dallas-based company is one of the largest direct marketers and distributors of sporting goods, footwear, apparel, and branding to the school and league markets.
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