Careismatic Brands to Close Both Dallas DCs, Cut 404 Jobs

Careismatic Brands is laying off 404 employees as it shutters two of its distribution centers in Dallas, just over a year after the medical apparel seller consolidated its shipping operations in the area.

In a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notice to the Texas Workforce Commission, the company said the warehouses will close on May 31. The layoffs are permanent, the notice said.

One of the facilities, a 1-million-square-foot warehouse, is located near the second-largest FedEx Ground hub in the U.S., and was intended to centralize the scrub manufacturer’s distribution serving the U.S., Central and Latin America, and parts of Canada. Prior to leasing the logistics park in February 2023, Careismatic had operated seven warehouses across the U.S.

Chief people officer Haylee Newton cited “changing business needs” for the recent closures, which likely are tied to the company’s bankruptcy filing in January. At the timing of the filing, the company had nearly $833 million in debt, with revenue falling by $128 million between 2021 and 2023.

The California-based Careismatic “expanded capacity to meet market demand in 2020 and 2022” during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a Jan. 22 court filing, but normalization of demand in the years after heavily contributed to the firm’s downfall. The medical apparel seller also attributed the problems to macroeconomic issues, persistent supply chain disruptions, rising material costs and a challenging labor market.

“As part of Careismatic Brands’ continued efforts to provide our customers with world-class service, we are taking steps to enhance our distribution model to better meet our business’ needs,” said a company spokesperson in a statement. “In connection with this process, we have made the difficult decision to wind down operations at our distribution centers. We are grateful to our distribution center team for their dedication and contributions to CBI and are taking steps to support them through this transition. As we move forward, we are diligently working to ensure a seamless transition with minimal disruption to our customers.”

The company has not indicated what it plans for its distribution operations after the Dallas warehouses close.

Careismatic gave notice to the affected workers on Feb. 12. The workers will not have bumping rights, which is when employees with a higher level of seniority can replace junior workers instead of losing their jobs.

The company is the primary supplier of medical apparel sold at Walmart, and makes up more than 50 percent of the U.S. wholesale market for medical apparel, according to the January filing.

DHL, Geodis, Kuehne + Nagel conduct layoffs

Recent layoffs at distribution centers extend to major logistics providers, such as DHL Supply Chain, which will lay off 170 employees as it closes a warehouse in Indiana.

The DHL unit said it was recently informed of a decision by an unnamed customer to restructure its operations, which includes transitioning business to a new third-party logistics (3PL) provider.

The layoffs, which take place in Clayton, Ind., are set to occur Aug. 1 and expected to be permanent.

“We sincerely value the commitment our associates have made to the success of the business over the years,” said a company spokesperson. “We notified our associates of this change in April and we will work with them to determine opportunities to continue their career as valued team members of DHL Supply Chain.”

DHL filed a WARN notice on April 23 to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. The company said it would provide COBRA benefits to the affected workers, which typically enrolled individuals to continue medical, dental, vision and flex health reimbursement account benefits for 18 months.

The month prior, logistics company Geodis also submitted a WARN notice in Indiana, indicating that 99 employees will be permanently laid off at its Plainfield, Ind. facility. That warehouse will remain open.

Another international logistics giant, Kuehne + Nagel, had a different scenario, laying off 227 employees after one of its customers, Honeywell Aerospace Technologies, decided to insource roles at two facilities.

Kuehne + Nagel informed the Arizona Department of Economic Development about the job cuts in an April 22 WARN notice. The positions span a variety of roles in contract logistics and the layoffs are set to occur on July 31.

Despite the layoffs, Kuehne + Nagel still employees roughly 170 employees in Arizona’s contract logistics sector, according to a company spokesperson.

In total, warehousing jobs have largely stabilized since late 2023. Preliminary data for April from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) tallied 1,775,600 workers in the warehousing and storage industry on a seasonally adjusted basis, down 58,200 from the 1,833,800 in the year-ago period.

But the preliminary April total is identical to October 2023 employment numbers and is higher than each of the months since.