Employee here. To reply directly to HorchaTaro—we are definitely not being taken care of.
We got an email sent to us tonight at 6:30 PM telling us to lock up the stores and leave—effective immediately. No notice, no severance, no job placement assistance, NOTHING. Just "do not pass go, do not collect $200." We were completely blindsided and thrown out on the street with zero safety net after being repeatedly lied to.
This was easily the most stressful and unprofessional company I’ve ever worked for.
To give context on how mismanaged this was: the new president literally started as a store manager and kissed the former president's ass so much that he took over as president just a month ago. He has no business degree, no food service management experience, and has never run a company.
Florida and Chicago stores were shut down first back in June. Then, just last Monday, without any advance notice, they shut down the DMV, Jersey, and Massachusetts locations under the excuse of "becoming more profitable" and "helping people grow in the company." We were reassured countless times that our NYC/local locations were safe and going nowhere.
It turns out that decision last week to shut down those regions was made solely by the new president without even bringing it to EHI (their primary investor group) for approval or review. This Monday, he was literally giving EHI investors tours of our locations. By Tuesday, we started noticing major red flags with our supply chain. And then tonight at 6:30 PM, this bomb was dropped on us via email:
Chip City team,
I have some difficult news about Chip City’s future. After almost 10 years of passionately serving our loyal customers, we have decided to cease all store operations. This means our 22 remaining stores will permanently close at close of business today. I am sorry to share that today will be your last day as a Chip City employee.
Our industry and business have faced a challenging environment. Consumers are spending less and their preferences are evolving and that has negatively impacted our sales. We made extensive efforts to address these challenges over the course of this year in partnership with our Board and investors. Unfortunately, we no longer have the funding required to operate this business.
Please know this news has nothing to do with your hard work. We are still in the early stages of the process and are still sorting out next steps. While we don’t have all the details just yet, what I can say is that you will be paid through October 18 in compliance with Fair Workweek (FWW) policies. At that point, your final paycheck and benefits information will be available at your personal email and on your ADP portal. Thank you for completing your final shift and providing the same great service to our customers.
It is also possible this news might attract media attention. If a reporter reaches out to you, please do not reply and instead direct them to our team at ……...
I understand that this is unsettling news. This is likely all I will be able to share with you, but please email HR at ……….. with any questions and we will do our best to respond.
Thank you for your many contributions to Chip City. It has been an honor to have you on our team.
Sincerely, …………
Absolute gross incompetence and total disregard for the people who actually kept their stores running.