Public records reveal that Top 40 supplier alphabroder (asi/34063) will close two warehouses in the next two months, resulting in the potential layoffs of 233 employees. The warehouses, based in Philadelphia and Niles, MI, originally belonged to Bodek and Rhodes (asi/40788) before the supplier merged with alphabroder in December.

Notices were posted online on the state government websites of Pennsylvania and Michigan as part of the Workforce Adjustment Retraining and Notification Act (WARN) – federal legislation that requires at least 60 days’ notice for certain business closings and mass layoffs. A notice filed for Pennsylvania revealed that alphabroder will close its Philadelphia warehouse on October 10 with 143 employees being affected.

In Michigan, a notice filed May 27 said that alphabroder will close the Niles warehouse on September 30, with layoffs expected to begin August 1. The closing will result in the loss of 90 jobs. In a letter sent to state and local officials, alphabroder said that only three of the employees are employed by the supplier. The rest were provided by four temporary employment agencies: Tri-State, Trillium, Great Lakes Staffing and Elwood.

In an interview with Counselor in June regarding the completed integration of the two suppliers, alphabroder Chief Marketing Officer David Clifton said at that point inventory had been moved from Bodek’s other three warehouses (in Orlando, FL, Fresno, CA, and Norton, MA,) to alphabroder’s pre-existing warehouses, all of which were just a mile or less away from the Bodek locations. Inventory from the Philadelphia and Niles locations would be transitioned over during the summer. Clifton said pickup and local delivery service would remain at the Philadelphia location due to its heightened usage and distance from alphabroder’s warehouse two hours away in Harrisburg.

No WARN notices for alphabroder were listed for either Florida or California. Massachusetts does not list WARN notices.

Bodek and Rhodes and alphabroder merged in December for an undisclosed sum, combining to make the largest supplier in the industry with $1 billion in annual North American promotional product revenue. The Bodek and Rhodes name will continue before eventually being phased out.