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Department 56 downsizing plan announced

A commenter on the Yahoo! Group found this statement released by Lenox Corporation:

"On October 31, 2008, the Board of Directors of Lenox Group Inc.
(the “Company”) approved a scale-down plan (the “Plan”) for the
Department 56 wholesale business which includes discontinuing its
Everyday and Halloween product lines (Note from blog: Not Halloween villages, just the additional miscellaneous decoratives) and most of its basic Christmas
lines, as well as its Forchino collectible line."

"The Plan will be to focus the Company’s resources on lines that
have potential to generate sustainable profits, such as Villages,
Snowbabies, Classic Brands, Ebony Visions, Just the Right Shoe, Possible
Dreams, Sandra Magsamen and a small assortment of Christmas products."

"The implementation of the Plan requires the elimination of 53
jobs over the next three months, including 30 employees at Department 56
headquarters in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, 7 employees at Department 56
offices in Petaluma, California, and 16 field sales and showroom
employees. Affected employees will be provided with severance benefits
which are estimated to cost approximately $1.1 million in the aggregate.
In addition, there will be certain additional costs associated with the
potential closing of certain Department 56 showrooms which are not
determinable at this time. The implementation of the Plan is expected to
be substantially completed by the end of 2008 and most of the costs will
be charged as a restructuring expense." . . . . . . . .

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