Volcom eliminated 30 jobs in North America Thursday as it moves to reduce its cost structure.
In a statement emailed to me, Volcom CEO Richard Woolcott said, “Given the continued challenges in the U.S. retail environment and the current economic situation in Europe, we determined it was necessary to make the difficult decision to adjust our cost structure, including a workforce reduction. Volcom, however, remains strong and we are moving forward with our strategic initiatives to become a truly global action sports brand.”
While there are signs the economy is recovering in some sectors, conditions remain challenging for some industry companies with the slowdown in Europe, tough conditions in Australia, PacSun closing stores, the weak snow season and more.
PacSun, the industry’s largest customer, closed 119 stores in 2011 and plans to shutter another 110 by the end of 2012.
Columbia announced earlier this month it was reducing its staff in part because of the weak snow season, Billabong has said it may close up to 100 to 150 stores globally, and other industry companies have trimmed staff, curtailed spending and eliminated some new initiatives.
