Updated: Layoffs Reported At Reef
josh hunter
- January 07 2009
- 2,706 views
- 58 comments
Yesterday afternoon Reef reportedly let go of a substantial number employees from its office in Carlsbad, California. VF Corp Director of Corporate Communications Paul Mason declined to comment, or confirm the exact number of employees that were let go. The news comes just a few weeks after VF Corp announced job cuts across all brands.
According to Reef’s VP of Global Marketing Kevin Flanagan, the layoffs were across the board and affected every department. While he could not provide the exact number of employees that were released, he says the apparel department lost the most staff. Flanagan also confirmed that Reef has decided to license its swimwear line to Raj Manufacturing.
Flanagan says the layoffs were extremely difficult because of the family atmosphere at Reef, but that it’s the right decision for the company in the face of the current economy.
In an interview conducted by Transworld Business in late December, VF Corp Outdoor Coalition President Dave Gatto, offered this response when asked how Reef is performing in the current economic climate:
“The brand is performing as to be expected in this new environment. The Reef customer is loyal, but they are instinctively cutting back on unnecessary spending… this exacerbates the ripple effect of a faltering economy. In the 25 years that Reef has been in business, the company has seen recessions before, the way to come out on top is to stay focused on the consumer, foster the relationships we have with our accounts, our vendors and our factories to help work through these tough times. We all know there can be a huge up-swing when the market recovers; it’s just a matter of adjusting the business responsibly to survive the lulls and hopefully emerge a stronger, more efficient brand.”
Stay Tuned To Transworld Business for the latest updates on this story and more.
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January 7th, 2009 at 11:49 am
Yow! More dominoes soon to fall very soon. I heard through the Quik grapevine that eggshells are cracking underfoot at the HQ.
January 7th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
If I worked at Vans I’d probably have skid marks in my pants right now!
January 7th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
yep .. and it would be about the size of a brick!
January 7th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
Their sister brand The North Face cut some staff yesterday too and that brand is still growing.
January 7th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
I have said it before , some here have even heard me ,
I’ll say it once more ; perhaps some will agree,
You can weigh those who speak of fostering relationships by the ton. But, when all is said and done,
Those that actually do , are but a hardworking few !
January 7th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
Stop hating. Did you get let go from Vans?
January 7th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
Torta?you know that’s a nickname for fat ugly chicks, right?
But no, I’ve never worked at Vans. I wasn’t hating, rather pointing out that the Bobs from VF Corp have been visiting all the VFC-owned companies left and right. I have close friends at Vans and hope they keep their jobs.
So Torta, What would you say you do here?
You do NOT have upper management written all over you .. now I’m hating on you, not Vans.
January 7th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
Wow …newsflash…. People that work at Quik are worried! Thanks for the update! (read with sarcasm Hammer time)
Don’t you think that goes without saying? Come on, at least now the stock is back up to 2.20 from .80 cents.
All hail Gary Busey’s Wizard Glove … sorry, Divine Hammer is a really stupid screen name so I had to come up with something even more ridiculous.
January 7th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
42!!! at once. that’s huge. how many people are left in the building?
January 7th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
It is really sad that so many gifted designers are left high & dry after putting in many hours & thoughts for REEF. I know the economy is bad, but consumers are left with nothing in women’s or men’s apparell from Reef. This will really be hard to make up. It is sad when a big corp like VF takes over. Big Corps Stink!! I do not work there. I’m glad. wish they could remain small Ca. Co. I have heard what a great place it was to work at and the good they do for the community area. everything changes.
January 7th, 2009 at 5:58 pm
If you’re not at management level and you work for a company owned by VF then you had better start thinking about where next months rent is coming from. It’s really sad, but no one would do this if they didn’t have to. This was obviously a mandate from up the corpo ladder. It sucks because Reef was always help in such high regards as a place with little turnover, and a great work environment. Sorry to all who lost their jobs! Keep your heads up!
January 7th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
If you kill all the soldiers , who will fight the battles ?
The Generals ? YEAH RIGHT ; this economy gave VF a chance to right a bad decision without too much Brand Goodwill Equity vanishing. It was a mistake to be in Apparel , they are using the populations misery to inflict misery of thier own and improve the bottom line .
Apparel = arse kicking = run away and live to fight another day.
Juniors Swim = correct place to start , given 10 years of ads with bikinis up girls butt cracks = now licenced = a bitch but the correct action.
There is a lesson in all this but i am not smart enough to see it through the B.S.
Best of luck to all let go , get together , get the funding , start your own label and kick some VF arse !
January 7th, 2009 at 8:23 pm
So were most of the layoffs in apparel and apparel design “Dry Reef”? That’s a bummer, there was a lot of talent and passion within the Reef apparel ranks. And less than two years after investing so much into an aggressive apparel program…
January 7th, 2009 at 9:17 pm
Totally Agree ; such a waste . Personally i think more than losing talent they would be wise into bring two very talented people back , Fernando and Santiago . Thier’s is the passion , heart and soul of Reef .
January 8th, 2009 at 7:32 am
Ya sounds like they were over staffed to begin with.
January 8th, 2009 at 7:37 am
Just checked the site the guys stuff is whatever, but the womens line was real progressive. But overall looks way better than the vans apparel. Seems to me it was a real lack in Marketing, however like so many womens products there are very few venues to advertise. Also, I guess it hard to go from exploiting women to marketing to them.
January 8th, 2009 at 11:01 am
Shouldn’t you be called Gary Busey’s Missing Frontal Lobe you moron? Ah, the freedom of speech and the written word…Love it! Anyway, I do NOT assume things at Quik or spread false rumours. I’m only get reliable info from those I know who work there (Quik) and call me from time to time. Sorry for spreading the word
January 8th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
so is there apparel program done then
January 8th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
I highly doubt there were 42 people for just the apparel line, usually there are under 10 for a company that size. 42 people, that’s got to be the entire company.
So… ahem.. looks like DC is going to flood the market with some shweeet sandals in the next year, oh yeah, I just can’t wait. Next they’ll be making lawn bowling shoes and showcasing them at Agenda, yo. Losing credibility day by day, that’s the corporate american wayyyyyy.
January 8th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
Reef lost thier mojo a long time ago and should not have hired all those great people to begin with. The sandal market is flooded and it slipped out of thier hands, and we all know Sanuk came in with that shoe sandal and just crushed it…Then Reef spent all that dough on the 1 bobby short. cmon!
The management should also be accountable, but they are still there. Why?
January 8th, 2009 at 9:38 pm
I wish companies would look at the human element of their company like some of the top non-endemic brands do. The main way to create strategic separation and a sustainable competitive advantage is by getting, keeping and continous training of top knowledge workers. Unfortunately it seems as though Reef or VF for that matter make their decision from a Lotus based dashboard system. “sales down, layoff 10.7 percent, sales up, hire 10.9 percent”. This is not the way to manage for future growth. Companies should be investing wisely right now and using continuous improvement strategies to cut costs not letting go of your most important resource. Or use a strategy utilized by Starbucks, FedEx and other top companies and cut 401 k matching or salaries across the board including the most importantly the higher paid management and executives. Companies like Kia, HP, Apple etc that invest in marketing and and R AND D will gain market share and will come out smelling like a rose when the economic headwinds turn into economic wind at our backs.
Much love,
therookery.ning.com
saltnation.com
January 8th, 2009 at 10:36 pm
Right on MR ! Hopefully the industry leaders will take a page from those playbooks.
Meanwhile , Blow on chilly wind ! We have a warehouse full of warm jackets !!!
January 9th, 2009 at 7:10 am
When it gets busy or when times are tuff I do the work of 4 people, but when times are slow I know I will still be around. Not one of 4 people sitting’ at their desk with an axe over head. Having a hemmoraging of staff based on statistics and computer models means managers have become to disconnect from their daily operation. I think this industry needs to get back to its grass roots model, where you have a small group of dedicated and well treated employees who are willing to work their ass off because they believe in the brand. There is also the issue of self entitlement that the ASI has, people seem to want to get the most for giving the least and expect too much because their ego had inflated at the same rate as their brand. Upper management seems to forgotten what it like to really have to work hard. But I guess they are going have to remember and remember fast if they continually chop their legs out from under them. Like you said this mass layoff model will hinder their ability to innovate and they will be left in the dust to other companies that had a more innovative restructuring model. From what I saw of the women?s reef line there was a lot of talent and some real potential to gain market share. I real feel that it was management who drop the ball and it sucks that it?s the foot solders who have to pay the price. But their talented employees have quickly become their direct competition, so they pretty much sealed their fate.
January 9th, 2009 at 9:54 am
If you work at Quik you’d better back up all your files on a hard drive RIGHT NOW.
Major round of layoffs today …. word is they are “stripping the company down” to sell it off.
So seriously … Best of Luck today Quik crew ….. hope for the best, plan for the worst!
January 9th, 2009 at 10:08 am
No Way ! McKnight would never lay people off on Friday , it ruins the weekend . Reef had that right any way , mid -week , ruins the week , not the weekend !
January 9th, 2009 at 10:18 am
I concur,
Not to mention from a macro perspective having pay cuts is better for the economy as a whole vis a vis layoffs. Less disposable income for some but with tax cuts, lower gas costs etc total discretionary could be at a parity compared to 07. Yet when you layoff people it is a slippery slope in that then they use goverment resources which many times don’t cover their bills and then they have to foreclose then the bank is hurt and it trickles down to the whole economy.
therookery.ning.com
January 9th, 2009 at 10:36 am
Tru that. The scope of your perspective is truly amazing.
January 9th, 2009 at 11:17 am
regardless of what you think is best…the layoffs at Quik today are going down…so employees should be prepared. It’s sad for sure. Whether of or not it’s the best thing for the economy isn’t relevant. There is going to be a major staff reduction today…like it or not.
January 9th, 2009 at 11:40 am
No way it will reach management level today anyway .
January 9th, 2009 at 11:44 am
What ! quit trying to deflect to Quik ; Flannigan ! this your’s and Reef’s issue . Quik will take care of Quik.
January 9th, 2009 at 11:50 am
ALL IS SAVED ! ZUMIEZ JUST GAVE REEF AND QUIK A HUGE ORDER !
ALSO , MACY’S JUST GAVE ALLYANCE A HUGE ORDER FOR THE L.A. STORE , OOOPS ! NEVER MIND THEY JUST CLOSED IT .
January 9th, 2009 at 11:55 am
lol HMMMER!
January 9th, 2009 at 12:05 pm
Just a fan of yours , paying homage Hmmm , how is the snow ? So-cal feels like Canada .
January 9th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
Just got a 1/4 meter of snow and it -16 with the wind chill. It’s colder then a witch’s right now and it gona get cold over the weekend. Gona freeze my nads on the hill this weekend, got love the east coast.
January 9th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
That in Fahrenheit BTW…
January 9th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
Just heard that VF is buying DC. Anyone else hear this rumor?
January 9th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
Those Allyance guys are signing Bobby Martinez, they need it.
January 9th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
Still ! waiting on that press release Bam Bam , where ya been since the holidays , working , lucky dude !
January 9th, 2009 at 4:10 pm
“Or use a strategy utilized by Starbucks, FedEx and other top companies and cut 401 k matching or salaries across the board including the most importantly the higher paid management and executives”
MR-this strategy works at this level because the companies you mention have employee bases that range between 20,000 and 100,000. Eliminating 401k matching, shaving salaries and bonuses at this level saves a company millions. Unfortunately, the quickest way to reduce costs with companies of this size (Reef) is layoffs. Yes, they’ll probably hire back when the economy turns around but that’s the way corps work. Everyone bitches about how corporations suck this and that and how they’ve ruined the ASI but nobody seems to say much when they fly business class to China three times a year.
As for innovation. The mass layoff will not hinder innovation–being strapped for cash will. It frees up cash so the company can stay afloat. It (should) will also force those who didn’t get the axe to get creative and figure out ways to secure their job by boosting their value to the company.
January 9th, 2009 at 5:23 pm
Ohahlala,
Was this a quick response without cognitive thought?
Run the numbers my friends. 42 layoffs at $45,000 average is about 1.8 million in annual savings. Then take the total of 250 employees (not sure if this is accurate) and multiply by an average of $80,000 consider the CEO and others will take the hit the mean will be in that area. Then multiply by .08 and you get 1.6 million. Then if you cut half of the benefits (mostly 401 K and travel–ever heard of WebEx or go to meeting?) which a good average is a multiple of .17 of average salary and you have a larger savings then getting rid of 20% of your total productivity.
Of course this all exercise is theoretical as I have no idea what their long term strategy is and if they wanted to eventually focus on their core competencies then this might have been the right call. Just throwing out other strategies that seem to work for other companies and even though it is not in this realm the entire economy.
How is innovation created? I believe it is from from human capital 9 times out of 10 unless you have a really sophisticated ASIMO.
Word,
therookery.ning.com
January 9th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
MR , i dig that you crunch the numbers but you don’t forget the human side . Right on !
January 9th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
QUIK CUTS ; Talked with 3 different folks in 3 job roles there today , no mention of lay-offs yet !
Where do you get your info Mr Man ?
January 9th, 2009 at 8:15 pm
Here are some facts.
- Reef’s clothing line didn’t sell for shit
- They spent way way more than any return it ever produced
- The 2 brothers only started the clothing thing to make the company look fat to sell to VF
- They wasted a ton of money on Bobby M.
- They knew the clothing was going to be cut which is why the didn’t re-sign Bobby M
- VF is a lame ass corp company to work for (unless you like Big Bro looking over your every move)
- The upper management at Reef is full of poser kooks
- The have also cut out footwear and are only going to focus on sandals,t’s,trunks,hats.
- Yes they are going to farm out the bikini line to someone else
January 10th, 2009 at 11:01 am
Day 2 of QUIK CUTS ; NOT ! Where you @ mr. Q. Insider ?
January 10th, 2009 at 11:04 am
WHRE YOU @ QUIK CUTS , I GOT MY HARD DRIVE ,NOW I GOT TO HOPE I DON’T GET FIRED FOR DOWNLOADING COMPANY INFO !
January 10th, 2009 at 11:07 am
YOU ARE THE WORSE KIND OF HUMAN IN TROUBLED TIMES LIKE THESE QUIK CUTS , YOU DISPENCE GOSSIP LIKE FACT AND CAUSE GREIF AND FEAR WHERE PEOPLE JUST NEED TO FOCUS ON THE JOB , THIER JOB ! , AT HAND !
January 10th, 2009 at 11:12 am
How about i put on the sacred G.B glove and kick your sorry rat bastard a@# QUIK CUTS TODAY ?
January 11th, 2009 at 10:43 pm
McKnight to Holbrook Monday morning:
“Charger’s lost , guess we can get back to those lay-offs now cuz some gossip guru on a REEF forum says we have to”.
Holbrook to McKnight :
” yeah Bob, let’s start with every moron who downloaded company files to a hard drive because MR QUIK CUTS TODAY said to!”
January 12th, 2009 at 10:20 am
Look … I’m as glad it didn’t happen as anyone! I work at Quik and my director warned me on Thursday that there was going to a huge round of layoffs on Friday. I was simply trying to give people a heads up so they weren’t completely caught off guard. Another friend of mine in a different dept. heard the same from their supervisor on Thursday, and if you work here you know that there have been all kinds of strange people around the office! Also, I didn’t post the other things posted under QUIK CUTS TODAY, so someone else used that screen name I guess. Layoffs aren’t something to joke about, I was simply trying to let people know what I was told was happening.
January 12th, 2009 at 10:32 am
Cool ; As you know it is not cool to download company files or spread panic. If everyone keeps to the job they were hired to do , have a little faith in Bob to get the banks to come around , Quik will get through and as goes Quik goes most of the industry . Let’s both get back to work !
January 12th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
I don’t know of Quik cutting jobs (again) anytime soon, but my bud, who works for them, tells me that the mood at their HQ is quite somber. I don’t care if it’s California or New York; Everytime I hear of job cuts, folks losing their jobs, and businesses shuttered forever, I get sick to my stomach. I pray that China does NOT take over our economy!!! HELP!
January 12th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
I see your point MR and side note: didn’t mean to come across as being inconsiderate towards those who lost their jobs. Your number crunching works with the speculative figures you mentioned but until we know hard numbers–specifically total number of employees and salary figures–it’s a moot point. Meaning…we can speculate all we want.
I do agree that it all depends on what types of jobs were let go and what the long-term strategies for Reef are.
January 12th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
There were about 120 people in the building last year, take away 40 and you have a pretty tight organization.
January 14th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
Management accountability is one of the biggest problems with a lot of what’s going on not just in ASI, but the overall economy. I can personally say that at Nike, the management is horrible, and people actually break down into tears over their ridiculous workload because of a lack of vision. And guess what…those managers are almost never fired, just laterally moved(or promoted!). It’s absolutely disgusting. There is a huge disconnect between those that run the companies and those that work there…I truly feel management does not know what is happening on the ground level.
January 14th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
You said a mouth full there ASI GUY ! Look at the way our country , Banks and Fortune 500 companies are run. Shamelessly.
As for Nike i feel you directly there and agree . They are a management cult who if you fit in , you don’t get in .
Meanwhile was at the Mall and Burlington Coat Factory today and Hurley , Eziekiel , Rusty and Lost were prevalent throughout. And these guys scoff at Quik. Snap !
January 14th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
You want to talk about incompetant management, lack of vision, and lack of accountability you should see the douchebags running Burton these days. They are keeping Jake in the dark as they run employees out of the building and the company into the ground.
January 21st, 2009 at 2:04 am
I HEARD QUIK IS TRADING THEMSELVES TO VF FOR REEF