One hundred and sixty employees of Eatonton’s Bluestem Brands distribution center (148 Industrial Blvd.) received bad news on June 23, when they were told their jobs would soon be eliminated due to downsizing and the likely closure of the facility this fall.
Owned by Eden Prairie, a Minnesota-based BLST Operating Company, LLC, Bluestem has been in Eatonton for approximately five years, serving as a distribution center over the years for several e-commerce subsidiaries, including Appleseed’s, Blair, Draper’s & Damon’s, Fingerhut, Gettington, and Haband, among others.
The Eatonton facility traditionally served the Haband brand until being acquired in 2015 by Bluestem Group, Inc., which now primarily serves Fingerhut as a financial tech company, and Orchard Brands, which provides lifestyle apparel. Bluestem Corporate appears to deliver shared services to both Fingerhut and Orchard Brands.
The Haband name continued in Eatonton until 2020, when the facility was rebranded as Bluestem. At its peak operating level, about a year later, up to 500 employees worked at Bluestem; however, an automation push a couple of years later reduced the full-time Bluestem workforce by more than half.
Now, 114 employees are scheduled to be terminated Aug. 22, with 43 more following on Sept. 5, and a final three to be let go another two weeks later on Sept. 19, for a total of 160 lost jobs.
According to Chicago-based class action law firm Strauss Borelli, however, BLST Operating Company dba Bluestem Brands may have violated the 1988 Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, a federal law requiring certain employers to notify employees, in writing, at least 60 days before a plant closing or mass layoff takes effect.
Strauss Borelli said that employers who do not follow WARN Act rules, either by giving notice too late or providing unclear notices, may have to pay employees back pay and benefits for the time they were in violation.
The law firm said that Bluestem employees who feel they may fall under such conditions should contact the firm at 872-263-1100 or sam@straussborrelli.com for advice.