The New-York based beauty subscription service, which sold its division in France in January, has announced it will cut 25% of jobs globally in order to reduce costs.
At least 44 employees will be affected in New York, out of a total workforce of 94, according to a notice filed with the state labor department. As part of the costs reduction plan, the company also intends to move some operations from the U.K. to Spain. The aim is “to reduce redundancies across the U.S., U.K. and Spain.”
The cuts come nearly two years after hedge fund Viking Global bought a majority stake in the company and agreed to invest about US$15 million.
Since the opening of its first physical store in New York in 2014, Birchbox has claimed that the development of its physical presence would be key to its growth. At the end of 2018, the beauty subscription service inked a deal with Walgreens in order to establish a presence in 11 stores in major cities across the U.S. On the contrary, the now independent French branch intends to accelerate its development in data and e-commerce both in France and in Europe.
