In a letter to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, Buffalo Wild Wings informed the state that it plans to terminate 132 employees at its corporate headquarters in Golden Valley, Minnesota.
READ MORE: Inspire isn’t done buying restaurant chains.
The moves comes about two months after the company’s sale to Arby’s Restaurant Group for $2.9 billion was finalized in early February. The deal, valued at $157 per share, was first announced at the end of November. When it closed, Inspire Brands Inc. was announced, with Arby’s CEO Paul Brown heading up the growing restaurant empire. The company is located in Atlanta, and some employees will be offered the chance to relocate, Melissa Strait, chief people officer, said in the letter, as reported by Twin Cities Business.
“The terminations are a result of a consolidation of business pursuant to Arby’s Restaurant Group’s acquisition of Buffalo Wild Wings Inc.,” she wrote.
The letter said that employees were notified of their termination dates and the permanency of the decision. No affected employees belong to a union and no bumping rights are involved, the company said.
The layoffs will occur in 11 phases through January, and affect more than a fourth of the chain’s 400 or so corporate staff. Inspire said jobs overlapped with those at the Arby’s chain, and some they wanted to move to Atlanta headquarters.
Inspire Brands also said that most of the layoffs will happen later in the year, with less than one-third taking place in the next two months.
John Bowie, an Arby’s executive who became chief operating officer of Buffalo Wild Wings, leads the brand and reports to Brown.
Inspire announced Monday that it has hired former Qdoba Restaurant Corporation president Tim Casey as brand head for its 26-unit fast casual R Taco. Additionally, Casey was president and chief executive officer of MFOC Holdco, Inc., the parent company of the Mrs. Fields brand and TCBY. He has held leadership positions with Starbucks, International Coffee & Tea, Circle K, and Southland Corporation as well.
