ThriftBooks, an online retailer of used books based in Seattle, Wash., will be closing its 120,000-square-foot warehouse in Halethorpe, Md., and laying off 136 workers, effective October 31, as it expands its presence in Arizona, the Baltimore Business Journal reported. The company plans to move its Maryland operations to four other book processing centers, according to a notice posted to the Maryland Department of Labor's Work Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) log.
One of the world's largest booksellers, ThriftBooks described the shutdown as a change to the way its network is organized, not a reduction in the number of books it handles: "Every year ThriftBooks provides millions of used books a second home, and this investment helps us keep doing that at scale."
ThriftBooks uses its warehouses to organize an inventory of more than 13 million titles. The company sources most of its inventory from library partnerships, charities, and thrift stores, purchasing "crates of books by the pound, and workers sort and grade them by condition. ThriftBooks then sells books on Amazon, eBay or its own website," the Baltimore Business Journal noted. The closure of the Halethorpe branch is part of a multi-year strategy to cut costs by consolidating its warehouse network.