About a year and a half after announcing it was opening a regional distribution center in Arlington, Williams Sonoma Direct. Inc. is closing up the facility and laying off 85 workers.
A Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) letter field with the Texas Workforce Commission says the San Francisco-based home furnishing retailer plans to close the distribution center by Jan. 19.
Williams-Sonoma is parent company to Pottery Barn, West Elm, Williams-Sonoma, Rejuvenation and Mark and Graham, operating 623 stores in the U.S., Canada, Australia and the U.K.
When the company announced it was opening the 821,502-square-foot facility in the Arlington Commerce Center at 4900 Sherry Street, the company said it planned to invest between $15 million and $20 million in furniture, fixtures and equipment and hire approximately 300-400 workers. An incentive package was approved by the Arlington City Council, but that had not kicked in yet. However, a hiring incentive, worth up to $100,000, had been implemented.
City officials did not have any comment on the closure.