WOODBRIDGE, N.J. -- Hess Corp. announced internally this month that it would be closing some underperforming quick-service restaurants (QSRs) and eliminating several salaried positions at headquarters and in the field.
Hess spokesperson Lorri Hecker told CSP Daily News the moves were a one-time action. She said the closing of the QSRs was to address performance issues so we can put in stronger-performing merchandising or food offerings.
Sandy Salit, Hess's coordinator of retail marketing, confirmed the closings and the related [image-nocss] layoffs. Weclosed several QSRs,which, in turn,precipitated some layoffs, she told CSP Daily News.
Hecker said the layoffs were announced in mid-December.
We did announce to our employees that we were going to be closing some of our underperforming restaurants, not the whole operations, just the restaurant portion of some of our locations, and we were also eliminating a few support positions in our headquarters in Woodbridge, N.J., she said. It affected some salaried folks in Woodbridge and some salaried folks in the field, and also some hourly positions. It effects different locations in different ways. We cut back hours in some locations and were able to redeploy quite a few of the employees.
It is not known how many restaurants were closed, nor how many employees were let go.
Hess has more than 1,350 retail marketing facilitiesgas stations and Hess Express storesserving customers in 14 Eastern seaboard states from Massachusetts to Florida.
The chain's QSR offerings include Blimpie's sandwiches, Godfather's pizza and its own Mountaintop coffee offering. It's also worked with Krispy Kreme and TCBY in the past.
Earlier this month, the company announced an exclusive deal with Dunkin' Donuts for the coffee and baked-goods chain to offer its doughnuts, coffee and hot chocolate in a new self-service station in many of Hess' convenience stores.
Dunkin' Donuts' presence within Hess Stores will roll out starting in January, primarily outside of New England, initially within Hess locations in Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. Hess said that it plans to introduce at least 175 self-service Dunkin' Donuts sites in 2008.
Based in Canton, Mass., Dunkin' Donuts is a subsidiary of Dunkin' Brands Inc.
Hess, with headquarters in New York, is a global integrated energy company engaged in the exploration, production, purchase, transportation and sale of crude oil and natural gas, as well as the production and sale of refined petroleum products.
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