Marimekko in staff lay-off talks as more stores shut

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Mar 25, 2020

Marimekko is accelerating its measures to adapt to the coronavirus outbreak. After temporarily closing its directly operated shops in the US, Australia, Germany, Denmark and Norway, it will also close those in Finland and Sweden this week.

The company said the pandemic in its key markets has “clearly weakened the consumer demand outlook and thus decreased the amount of work available in retail operations. If prolonged, the exceptional circumstance can have significant impacts on the company’s sales and profitability”.

It said it needs to minimise the financial impact on its operations and “adjust the personnel to the amount of work”. This means it’s looking at “temporary maximum 90 days lay-offs affecting its retail sales personnel, including retail support function,” in its domestic market, Finland. 

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It will also be following a similar approach in those other markets, while scrutinising its fixed costs.

CEO Tiina Alahuhta-Kasko said: “The coronavirus pandemic is a true human crisis touching us all, the impacts of which on the economy and consumer demand – especially in case the exceptional situation prolongs – are substantial. Marimekko has a strong balance sheet and sound financial situation thanks to the great work done by all employees in the past few years. 

“However, the effects of this exceptional circumstance affect us. Therefore, we unfortunately need to commence measures to adjust our personnel to the amount of work available in order to secure the financial position of our company and through that our jobs in the long term in as large scale as possible. Despite this challenging situation, I am convinced that Marimekko will get through this difficult time supported by our competitiveness and our unique culture, the Marimekko Spirit.”

As of the end of last year, a total of 189 full-time employees worked in Marimekko’s company-owned retail sales operations in Finland, including retail support functions, and 86, including support functions, in other market areas. The staff talks in Finland will start on March 30 and are estimated to last a maximum of two weeks.