Company started by Miracle Mop inventor Joy Mangano to close, lay off 66

The Ronkonkoma company behind the Miracle Mop, which was later sold to the Home Shopping Network, is closing, according to a state regulatory notice.

Ingenious Designs LLC, which St. James inventor Joy Mangano started in 1991, employs 66 people. It will close Feb. 28, the WARN notice states. Layoffs are scheduled to begin Dec. 28 and run through the end of February. The reason for the closing is listed as “economic.”

The design and sourcing work performed on Long Island will be shifted to a team in West Chester, Pennsylvania, where the headquarters of HSN's parent, Qurate Retail Group, is located, according to a company news release. HSN was formerly known as the Home Shopping Network. 

Mangano's best-known invention, the Miracle Mop, allows users to wring it out using its twistable handle and without touching the mophead. She became a star pitchwoman for the HSN. In 1996 her company had 200 workers and made and distributed household products worldwide, according to a Newsday story. Ingenious Designs became a subsidiary of the Home Shopping Network in 1999.

In 2015 the feature film "Joy" chronicling Mangano’s life as a single mom turned multimillionaire inventor was released starring Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper.  

Mangano has said that she started the company in her bedroom with one employee, one telephone and the support of some local banks.

She couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday. 

Under New York’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, companies with at least 50 full-time employees must file a 90-day notice of a mass layoff or closing.