Pandemic prompts layoffs at Belk department store chain
Published: Jul. 2, 2020 at 4:47 PM EDT
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - The coronavirus pandemic has prompted layoffs at the Belk department store chain, including at its North Carolina-based corporate headquarters.
The Charlotte Observer reports that the Charlotte-based company declined to disclose the total number of job losses.
The company has about 1,300 employees at its corporate office and about 20,000 employees total.
Belk said in a statement that it ``had to make some of the most difficult decisions of its 130-year history.‘'
The company said it is providing severance packages to those affected.
The company had closed 291 stores in 16 Southern states because of COVID-19. Stores began to reopen in May.
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