Children’s apparel maker Carter’s has stopped paying retail employees after it extended indefinitely the closure of its stores due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Michael Casey, the Atlanta company’s chairman and CEO, said in a news release that Carter’s will re-open its 1,109 stores in North America — 862 of them in the U.S. — “when it is clearly safe to do so.”
Carter’s store employees have been off work since March 19, when all locations were shuttered. They received paychecks through Friday, when they were placed on furlough. Idled employees will be eligible for benefits during the shutdown and will be paid again when the stores reopen.
Carter’s did not say how many of its 20,300 employees work in stores. Carter’s also furloughed and reduced its office-based workforce, according to the news release.
The company did not respond to a request for comment.
In addition to closing stores, Carter's has canceled commitments to purchase inventory; extended payment terms with vendors and landlords; reduced capital expenditures; and enacted unspecified cost reductions. Carter's recently drew down most of a $750 million credit line to build its cash cushion.
Carter’s makes children’s clothes under its namesake brand and the OshKosh B’gosh brand. Its apparel is sold in department stores, national chains, its own company-operated stores and online.
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