Conflicting Fates Reported About Commerce Corp.
Employees report the prominent distributor has closed while a newspaper reports it is instead conducting layoffs to keep the company viable.
Two conflicting stories emerged last week about garden supply distributor Commerce Corp. Early in the week, a letter sent to Commerce employees from owner Richard Lessans was leaked multiple times to retailers. Lessans told employees that after unsuccessful attempts to sell the company, it would be closing December 28.
Then on December 27, Lessans told the Baltimore Sun: "The business is not closing. Someone will be answering the phones every single day. We are looking at many options for the future of the business."
The article also quotes Lessans as saying that the company is deciding who of the 280 employees will need to be laid off.
“At this point we are looking at many options as to what to do as we go forward,” says Lessans in response to an email from Today’s Garden Center asking for further clarity. “We did have substantial layoffs last week, but we continue to ship from our three distributing centers.”
“I got the same letter sent to all the employees – the closing of the company on December 28 will result in immediate termination of many employees and ultimately all employees,” says a Commerce Corp. executive who wished to remain anonymous. As of this week, the executive is no longer employed with Commerce. “I scratched my head when I read the Baltimore Sun article.”
Comments (8)
John Doe Vendor (Fri Jan 4 16:57:13 2013)
I was a direct shipper for Commerce and saw something like this coming when I got word that West Coast shutdown. They wanted us to continue to ship product, have us collect payments from the retailers and still give them their cut, not happening... On a side note, I have worked with several of the former Commerce reps and they all definitely did not deserve the treatment they got. If you are a Commerce rep and looking for a new gig, several of the major distributors will be happy to chat with you. I know Wetsel/BFG have picked up about 10 Commerce road warriors. We work with those guys too and they are solid.
anon (Thu Jan 3 14:53:12 2013)
This is no real surprise for those who know about the former Commerce President that was recently caught stealing a large amount of money and skipped town. I'm sure that did not help the financial situation very much. Very sad to hear about all the loyal "team" members that got screwed. Some of those folks had over 20 years of service and really worked hard for Richard and his family.
Jane Doe 2 (Thu Jan 3 12:04:11 2013)
Again I am a former Employee That was let go Friday without any type of respect -Thanks for speaking out to all...Commerce has did the FORMER EMPLOYESS, THE VENDORS AND THE CUSTOMERS wrong....... Sad ,Sad , Sad Business.
John Doe (Thu Jan 3 07:59:22 2013)
Sadly I also am a former team member of Commerce. Richard laid all of us off except a very few whom he felt he could still "use" to help reduce the inventory. We were all kept in the dark about everything going on and were told "Commerce was going to get a great Christmas present by the Friday before Christmas", even though all the rumors sounded bad.
Jane Doe (Wed Jan 2 19:01:55 2013)
I am one of many employees who was laid off on Friday. Baltimore team members were called into an office one by one while Grand Rapids team members were called in to a conference call and told "if you are listening to this call you are laid off effective immediately". Our health insurance ran out on December 31. That was nice for those who have their family on their insurance policies. The lack of communication from Richard and the executives was a low blow to the people who have worked hard for this company!
A (Wed Jan 2 14:36:39 2013)
There is no way retailers going to have an confidence in placing any orders with Commerce. They are already contacting other distributors to get early orders placed. Distributors are going after Commerce retailers with force...g
Andi (Wed Jan 2 14:06:52 2013)
I received a email from my sales rep. on December 22 with all my spring orders attached saying as of December 28, Commerce Corp. was shutting their doors. The attachment was to help me try to place my orders else where.
bob ross (Wed Jan 2 04:59:05 2013)
this company is a joke
