300...Reebok will cut 300 workers; Portland is spared -- for now
by Laura Oppenheimer, The Oregonian
Wednesday January 14, 2009, 10:10 PM
Adidas-owned Reebok International announced 300 layoffs on Wednesday -- another sign that sneaker companies are hurting as consumers scrimp and save their way through the recession.
For now, no job cuts are planned at Adidas America's North American headquarters in Portland. But Reebok will say goodbye to 100 workers from its Massachusetts headquarters, 140 elsewhere in the United States and Canada, and 60 in Latin America. Most of the cuts are in marketing and sales operations.
"With the current economic conditions and the realities of our business, we have taken the necessary steps to bring our cost structure in line with our 2009 targets," Ulrich Becker, Reebok's president and CEO, said in a statement. "This is a difficult day for all of us."
Reebok sales dropped 2 percent during the first three quarters of 2008, compared with the same period a year earlier. Adidas' North American sales fell 7 percent during that time -- even as companywide sales grew 11 percent, bolstered by strong performances in Asia, Latin America and Europe.
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