Illuminations: Reflections of Cutbacks
It seems that along with the closing of Department 56 and Club Libby Lu, we will also be losing another Downtown Disney store, Illuminations. This comes with big cutbacks to the store’s parent company, Yankee Candle:
Yankee Holding Corp. and its subsidiary The Yankee Candle Co. said Tuesday that the company is slashing 330 jobs as part of a restructuring plan that includes closing its 28 Illuminations retail stores.
Yankee is also discontinuing its Illuminations consumer direct business and closing one underperforming Yankee Candle retail store.
The job cuts include about 310 store employees and field personnel in the Illuminations division, about 10 store employees at the closing Yankee Candle retail store, and about 12 corporate and administrative personnel at corporate headquarters.
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The company expects to close the Illuminations stores — which are located primarily on the West Coast — by April 30. Rydin said the company plans to continue developing and marketing Illuminations branded products mostly through its wholesale business. The Company acquired the Illuminations business in July 2006.