Arizona Mail Order is shutting down its local operations, resulting in the layoff of 59 workers and removing the last vestiges of a catalog sales business that once employed hundreds of people after it was launched in Tucson in 1950.
Orchard Brands Inc. has notified Pima County workforce development authorities that it will close the Arizona Mail Order operation Nov. 4 and consolidate those operations to Warren, Pa.
Officials of Orchard Brands, which is based in Beverly, Mass., could not be reached for comment.
The affected jobs included positions in creative art, circulation, management, finance, human resources, information technology, marketing, purchasing, sales, administration and maintenance, according to a summary of the closure presented to the Pima County Workforce Investment Board.
Crosstown Traders, which did business as Old Pueblo Traders, employed 976 employees when it was acquired by Charming Shoppes Inc. in 2005. Orchard Brands acquired the company in 2008, closed a local call center and distribution center in 2009, laying off nearly 400 workers.
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Arizona Mail Order notified the county’s OneStop Career Center of the closure, and the center held an orientation of available job help. This week, affected workers were registered for job assistance, including job-readiness workshops and counseling, the county said.