Brookstone Announces 3 Percent Cut to Workforce

Brookstone Inc., a gadgets and technology retailer based in Merrimack has announced a 3 percent cut to its workforce, resulting in layoffs to about 75 employees in town, according to stories published on the Union Leader and Nashua Telegraph websites.

The layoff was announced Monday.

"Today, Brookstone implemented a restructuring plan designed to reposition the company for continued growth and success. The reorganization included eliminating positions that represent less than three percent of the company's total workforce," a spokesperson for Brookstone said in a prepared statement.

The news of the workforce reductions comes just a year after former Brookstone President and Chief Executive Officer Ron Boire announced his resignation from the company.  Last May, Stephen Bebis took the helm as the new president and CEO of the organization.

"We were impressed by Stephen's track record as an entrepreneur, his hands-on experience as a manager and mentor at the highest levels in the retail industry, and his ability to drive growth and achieve market leadership," chairman of the Board of Directors of Brookstone and its interim president and CEO Jackson Tai said when Bebis was hired.

Brookstone, located at 1 Innovation Way, describes itself on its website as "a nationwide specialty retailer offering an assortment of consumer products that are functional in purpose, distinctive in quality and design and not widely available from other retailers. Brookstone first introduced itself to the world in a small classified ad selling "hard-to-find tools" in Popular Mechanics Magazine (in 1965)."