Boardriders Wholesale LLC laid off 84 employees within the past two months, according to a WARN notice filed in California.
The layoffs were due to Authentic Brands Group’s acquisition of Boardriders in September, which resulted in a restructuring, according to Boardriders’ letter to California’s Employment Development Department. WARN notices are required under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988 and require companies with more than 100 workers to disclose planned closings and mass layoffs of employees.
Impacted employees include c-suite members, including a CEO, global CFO, chief information officer and chief tax officer. The other employees include directors of design, creative and marketing, among others, per the letter.
Boardriders is headquartered in Huntington Beach, California, and the WARN notice states 72 of the laid off employees worked at its corporate headquarters at 5600 Argosy Circle.
Other affected employees worked at a building for its brand RVCA in Costa Mesa, California, and a Quiksilver distribution center in Mira Loma, California, as well as another location in Universal City, California.
A spokesperson for Authentic didn’t respond to Fashion Dive’s request for comment ahead of press time.
Last year, Boardriders cut 170 jobs in a reorganization effort before it was acquired by Authentic.
The deal between Authentic and Boardriders included Quiksilver, Billabong, Roxy, RVCA, DC Shoes, Element, VonZipper, Honolua and Boardriders’ namesake brand.
While the financial terms of the Boardriders and Authentic deal weren’t disclosed, the Boardriders portfolio generates about $2.9 billion in revenue each year through a distribution network of more than 500 owned retail stores, 7,000 wholesale accounts and e-commerce channels across 35 countries.
At the time of its acquisition, Authentic said the deal would increase its annual retail sales to more than $29 billion worldwide.
Authentic, a company known to buy struggling brands, owns a portfolio of more than 50 names in the lifestyle and entertainment space, including Eddie Bauer, Frye, Reebok and Nautica. Along with Boardriders, this year Authentic also announced deals to buy the intellectual property of Vince and Hunter Boots.
