In the latest move, parent company Duckwall-ALCO Stores, headquartered in Abilene, Monday announced plans to eliminate 27 positions in headquarters staff, including a vice president.
The company previously cut four senior vice-president and vice-president jobs in April. Their duties were absorbed by other executives. The corporate labor cost reductions to date amount to a savings of $2.5 million annually, a company press release stated.
The company said the moves are part of a turnaround plan aimed at improving profitability after changes to the board of directors in March of this year.
The changes come on the heels of a sudden resignation by then president and CEO Bruce Dale after Dale’s three years at the company’s helm.
Raymond A.D. French, Alco’s largest shareholder, and an outspoken critic of management, was elected to the board March 13 with James G. Hyde. Two board members resigned a day later — Dennis A. Mullin and Patrick G. Doherty — and the board voted to reduce its size from seven members to five. The company elected a new board chairman, Royce Winsten. The other two members are Dennis E. Logue and Lolan Mackey.
French, in November, threatened to push for a new board of directors if there wasn’t satisfactory progress in improving shareholders’ returns.
Reporter David Clouston can be reached at 822-1403 or by e-mail at dclouston@salina.com.
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