Seriously? Explains why so many were laid off.
24 replies (most recent on top)
George Coe (B&T ex-CEO) running from Follett after only two months on the job, and from a job they created for him at the combined Follett/B&T company is not a good sign. He's a public library industry leader and saw the writing on the wall !
B&T only option was to sell. According to Manuel they would have had to close half their warehousing operations. Now Follett work is routed to east and mid west. 2 warehouses closed in Illinois union issues. Insiders are saying 18 months threshold and going to fold. The gross profit margins are not going to keep them afloat. SAD!
Last month Baker & Taylor had some layoffs. Was told that good people were let go and none had fewer than 20 years. They too are going down the tubes. Gonna be bad now that Follett is involved.
Your sentence structure makes no sense. What "acquisitions delay" are you talking about?
I just found out that acquisitions delay at Follett is going to be gone in six months. Giving that job to b and t.
I give Ray and Nader a year thengood bye. Wait in unemployment like all of the people you don't give a damn a bout that you fired.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-follett-baker-deal-0419-biz-20160418-story.html
Touché. Still, I really used to like my job.
With many universities and colleges going to open source texts one has to question the wisdom of doubling down on a dying business. Ballyhoo it all you want, this is not a prudent business decision. Private-equity firms don't divest profitable investments. They're laughing all the way to the bank. Clayton Dubilier & Rice ... CD&R, did the same thing with Kinko's when they sold to FedEx but FedEx has REALLY deep pockets and it (FedEx Office - they even dumped the only thing that had value - the Kinko's name) has been a losing venture for them.
The book industry is changed. Follett seems to lack an understanding of this. Neebo did as well. It can not be run like Kmart, Target, Office max or Ace hardware. They really don't understand the retail model. Books are a specialty business and you need people at the helm who understand this and who realize that in order to profit you must understand your target customer in order to be competitive. It's crazy that the company is so interested in the bottom line that flash sales and cheap imported crap from overseas is thought to be the way to go. There are many employees who care about what is happening. There is no thought of those working in the stores. We know our customers and know what they want. No one wants to listen to us. For me, I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop, especially after the last purchase. Anybody want to buy the Brooklyn Bridge?
we bought Aspen student information system. didn't make money, so we just let a bunch of people go. That's what we do.
Do we own Aspen? I missed that.
Maybe if we buy all the book publishers, distributors and ebook vendors we can Corner the textbook market. Great plan! Too bad you won't have any employees seeing as we would all be laid off in order for Follett to make the purchaes.
Well we saw how well Kmart did when they purchased Sears. So maybe this will be just as good.... a slow ride to hell.
and Aspen
Gosh, hopefully this will go as well as the Neebo purchase.....
Baker & Taylor has a long history of being owned by private-equity firms. Castle Harlan acquired the company in 2006 from Chicago firm Willis Stein & Partners for $455 million, investing from its $1.2 billion Castle Harlan Partners IV LP, which closed in 2003. Willis Stein bought Baker & Taylor from Carlyle Group for $255 million in 2003.
Don't know about y'all, but I'm hearing some banjo picking. It feels like the we've crossed into some freaky territory where cousins and siblings mate. Two failing companies merge. They businesses are similar. What's more is their inability to react to a changing market is eerily similar. Follett had to pay a premium to the equity firm.
In a non-related story the under manned SCOTUS declined to hear the Authors' Guild case v Google. Google may be used as a great public library. http://fortune.com/2016/04/18/google-books-supreme-court-analysis/
One must wonder why the deal was announced yesterday!
I have to admit, the accuracy of the posts on this layoff site are very good. Someone called this two weeks ago.
The demise couldn't happen to a better company. I hope they rot.
I told you so! I knew this was coming. Had to fire people who were doing their job to get money for this new company. Look at Follett history of buying companies. They all go under!
Poor bastards at Baker & Taylor, their future is fked. The family picking your bones clean.
ok so how soon will more employees be let go? We should all be excited for Follett with their latest purchase but realistically we know to be cautious and very nervous about our future. No celebratory party here!
"Baker & Taylor has a service center in Momence, Ill., that has about 600 workers. For now, no local layoffs are planned, Griffith said."
"For now".....LOFL
The "Big Three" providing K-12 materials are Pearson, McGraw-Hill Education, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Publishers.
If Baker & Taylor was such a cash cow, why would they be selling? Crashing and burning with one dying business so they're buying another? Dumb as box of rocks. The 5th gen'ers are financially set but the 6th and 7th and going forward will be talking about how their family used to be rich. Ha! This is a repeat of the Schwinn bicycle company demise.