Job losses at WDFA as two offices are closed

Print Article E-Mail Article

The supply industry has reacted with shock to news of job losses following World Duty Free Americas (WDFA) decision to close its Ridgefield corporate headquarters and New York buying office. All operations are being consolidated into the Glen Burnie, Maryland facility.

The company said the move would "allow all senior management and their support staff to be located in one building, in close proximity to day-to-day financial decision making."
There was no mention of job losses but DFNI understands that several executives have been told their positions terminate at the end of March.

Noted one fragrance supplier: "We don't know what's going on or who we'll be dealing with from now on. This is one of our biggest accounts anywhere and they're losing some of their best buying talent." Another said that he was very worried about the ability of WDFA to service the business. The common industry consensus is that WDFA is winding costs down until BAA finds a buyer for WDFA which was declared "non-core" earlier this year. But with many WDFA contracts still having three years to run, the cost is understood to be deterring interest from some retailers.

Brian Collie, group retail director of WDFA parent BAA denied that the company was about to sell its Americas division. He repeated the statement made earlier this year that, although "non core", it was not "actively" up for sale.
"We'll put the support in the US. We're opening soon in Detroit, we've got the San Ysidro [southern border] superstore soft opening later this month and we're keen to bid for Atlanta. WDFA has our support in terms of investment in systems and investment in shops. But we won't invest in building up back of house empires. So I think Ramon Bosquez [ceo of WDFA] is taking exactly the right approach."