Pet/garden store to lay off 34 workers
Four Paws/Central Garden & Pet of Hauppauge plans to cut 34 of its 72 workers on Long Island by Jan. 31. The parent company cited "economic" reasons in a filing with the Security and Exchange Commission. Credit: iStock
A Hauppauge pet and garden store is planning to lay off nearly 50 percent of staff, according to a recent state filing.
Four Paws/Central Garden & Pet plans to cut 34 of its 72 workers by Jan. 31, the store said in a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act filing dated Thursday. The store, which is part of Walnut Creek, Calif.-based Central Garden & Pet Co., cited "economic" reasons.
In 1997, Central Garden acquired Four Paws Products Ltd. in Hauppauge, a pet supply manufacturer, for $55 million in cash and stock. Central Garden said at the time that the local company was one of the largest manufacturers of dog, cat, reptile and small-animal products in the United States.
No one at the Hauppauge store was available for comment and an executive at the corporate office in California declined to give details on reasons for the layoffs.
In Securities and Exchange Commission documents, Central Garden, a public company, said its net income for the third quarter, ended on June 25, had been hurt by "rapidly rising raw materials costs."
Under the WARN act, a company with a least 50 full-time employees must file a 90-day notice of a mass layoff or closing.
