(AP) NEW YORK — The latest cost-cutting measure taken by the online retail giant Amazon is the closure of a company that has been selling fabrics for close to 30 years.
Fabric.com said on its website that it will stop selling products and advised users to visit Amazon instead. The final day for clients to place orders on the fabric website is Thursday.
Amazon spokesperson Betsy Harden stated in a prepared statement: “As part of our regular business planning, we regularly examine the progress and potential of our businesses and have decided to discontinue Fabric. com.”
The number of employees who will be impacted by the closure is unknown. Harden stated that Amazon will collaborate with employees to “find alternative opportunities” at the business, including at close-by facilities.
She added that employees who choose not to remain with Amazon will receive severance pay.
The Craft Industry Alliance broke the first news of the shutdown.
Phoenix Textiles Group, situated in Georgia, was first established in 1993. Before launching its own website and starting to offer products directly to customers, it worked as a wholesale distributor of apparel textiles for a number of years.
The company was purchased by Amazon in 2008.
At the time, it said it would help the fabric site expand its selection of items and allow Amazon to offer its customers more sewing and crafting supplies.
The company’s shutdown coincides with Amazon’s efforts to reduce costs amid concerns about the state of the general economy and weak online sales.
In recent months, it has terminated some of its other ventures, placed a hiring freeze on the corporate side of its retail business, and shut down its hybrid virtual, in-home care service Amazon Care.
Amazon closes the online shop fabric.com as a cost-saving measure
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