April 09--Illinois employers warned of nearly 900 layoffs last month as businesses closed, merged or suffered slowdowns.
Liquor distributor Stoller Wholesale announced the biggest hit, with 170 layoffs in Elk Grove Village starting April 30. Parent company Glazer's, which is based in Addison, Texas, and bought family-owned Stoller in 2013, is closing Stoller Distributing on June 1, Glazer's spokesman Mark Semer said.
Glazer's and Southern Wine and Spirits of America combined earlier this year to become the largest wine and spirits distributor in North America.
Other companies included in the March report from the state's Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity are:
--Meijer, which reported 118 layoffs as it closes a store in Niles' Golf Glen Shopping Center mid-June. The retailer, which opened that location six years ago, had experienced low sales volume, the company said in a news release. Layoffs will begin mid-May.
--WestRock, a paper and packaging company based in Richmond, Va., which reported 49 layoffs at a plant on the South Side, beginning May 11. A spokesman did not respond to requests for comment. The company this month announced it completed the formation of a joint venture with Mexican packaging company Grupo Gondi and would immediately begin operating in Mexico as a single entity.
--JPMorgan Chase, which reported 44 layoffs in Elgin starting May 8. The bank's paper remittance unit continued to see declining volumes so the company decided to use a third-party vendor for the work, said spokeswoman Christine Holevas. The company is helping affected employees job search internally and with the vendor, she said.
--Grace Davison Discovery Sciences, an asphalt paving mixture and block manufacturing company, which is laying off 41 people in Deerfield starting May 6. Grace, based in Columbia, Md., is selling or closing certain lines of laboratory products, spokesman Rich Badmington said.
--Assembled Products, a metal stamping plant that expects 81 layoffs in Buffalo Grove between May 15 and Oct. 1. A spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.
The Illinois Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, or WARN, requires employers to provide 60 days' notice of pending plant closings or mass layoffs.
The law applies to businesses with at least 75 full-time employees. A "mass layoff" is defined as job cuts at a single site during any 30-day period of at least 33 percent of workers and at least 25 employees, or at least 250 employees regardless of the percentage.
aelejalderuiz@tribpub.com
