« 8 school districts fail to meet new graduation standards | Today | April 22 election set to fill late Sen. Badeau's seat »

January 31, 2008

The Paragon leaving Westerly, laying off 119

Journal archive photo / Gretchen Ertl
A Paragon employee last summer prepares for the annual warehouse sale. The facility, in Westerly, is closing in March.

The Paragon, a Westerly mail-order firm that has operated since 1972, is closing its complex in the town and laying off its 119 employees there.

Cheryl Rinfret, a company spokeswoman, confirmed in an interview with The Providence Journal that the warehouse and call center will be shuttered on March 31. The work performed in Rhode Island will be handled in a building in West Virginia owned by The Paragon's parent company, the AB&C Group, Rinfret said.

"They have the same thing in West Virginia," Rinfret said. "It's duplicated right now."

The Paragon has not determined what, if any, severance package its employees may receive, Rinfret said.

The company sells a variety of gift products, such as jewelry, rugs and clocks.

For more business-related news, visit the Biz Blog at projo.com/business.

Posted by Benjamin N. Gedan  at 3:56 PM | Permalink

Comments

Peterson | May 30, 2008 2:07 PM link

Post a comment

Please be civil. Vicious comments, personal attacks and profanity won't be published. Name and email are required; email address will not publish.

Name:

Email Address:

URL:
Remember Me? YesNo

Comments: (you may use HTML tags for style)