BHFO, an online discount designer fashion retailer based in Cedar Rapids, will lay off 32 workers in May, according to a notice posted to the Iowa WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) Act website.
The BHFO lay off was announced April 15 and take effect May 15, according to the WARN notice.
BHFO (Brittany Hannah Fashion Outlet) was founded in 2003 by Jon and Stacie Sefton in the basement of their home, and started as an eBay seller.
The company now operates a 240,000-square-foot facility at 4520 20th Ave. SW in Cedar Rapids and is recognized as one of the nation’s largest online apparel retailers, as well as being eBay’s largest fashion retailer.
In February, Senator Joni Ernst named BHFO as her Small Business of the Week.
“BHFO is tailored for success and always in style,” Ms. Ernst said. “For over 20 years, BHFO has brought passion and fashion together to deliver high-quality, designer apparel at affordable prices across Iowa and the world.”
BHFO’s rapid expansion from operating on a single online marketplace with two suppliers to 18 marketplaces with hundreds of brand partnerships necessitated a 2014 move to a larger facility that could accommodate its growing needs. The new building was formerly occupied by Alpha International, a toy distributor.
“With all of our operations under one roof, we’ll eliminate the headaches of transporting products and employees between multiple facilities,” BHFO President Jon Sefton said in a 2014 CBJ article.
