Avon Closing Operations In Hudson Valley After 125 Years

Update: NYS Department of Labor information about the expected number of layoffs and effective dates has been added.

SUFFERN, NY — The Avon lady is leaving town for greener pastures and the local economy will never be the same.

Avon announced on Thursday that it will be closing its Research & Development operations in Suffern and moving them to Brazil and Poland, two of the largest markets in its business. The company said the decision was made "in order to further deliver its Global Innovation Program and realize significant cost efficiencies."

"For 136 years, breakthrough innovation has been at the core of the Avon brand with our proprietary technology and award winning, affordable beauty products," Angela Cretu, CEO of Avon, said. "We believe this evolution of our R&D operations will give us access to a wider ecosystem of partners to drive our innovation pipeline. We're incredibly proud of our Suffern team and grateful for the strong innovation foundation that we will build on."

In a statement announcing the move, the company said that the decision "is part of Avon's Open Up and Grow strategy to deliver aspirational beauty at irresistible value through an omnichannel, high-touch relationship selling model." Avon also explained that moving their R&D operations to key Avon markets will allow closer connections with their representatives, consumers, supply chain operations and their parent company, Natura in Brazil.

The NYS Department of Labor announced that 138 employees would be affected by the closing. The layoffs are expected to begin on February 3, 2023 and will continue through December 27, 2024. Avon expects that R&D operations at the Avon Global Innovation Center will be ceased by March 29, 2024. The reason listed for the layoffs was "economic."

Avon's founder, David H. McConnell, started the company in Manhattan in 1886, selling perfumes. The "California Perfume Company" built a laboratory in Suffern in 1897. The name of the company was changed to Avon Products Inc. in 1939. In its first trademark application in 1932, the company described the goods and services it sold as "perfumes, toilet waters, powder and rouge compacts, lipsticks."

In 2016, Avon announced that it was moving its headquarters from New York to the U.K. and laying off 2,500 jobs worldwide.

Just a few years after closing its Manhattan offices and moving senior employees to Rye, in 2018, Avon laid off all employees at its Rye offices, in an effort to consolidate its U.S. operations.

"With Avon's international focus, simplifying our U.S. operations is a logical next step in providing fuel for growth, and a further example of our commitment to improve Avon's performance and become more fit for purpose," Jan Zijdervel, Avon's CEO at the time said. "While decisions like these that impact our employees are never easy, we will manage the transition in a respectful and sensitive manner. I wish to thank all of our colleagues for their dedication to our growth plans to turnaround Avon."

More recently in 2019, Brazilian beauty company Natura & Co., which also owns The Body Shop, purchased Avon Products, creating the world's fourth largest beauty company. Avon currently sells products in over 100 countries, with Brazil now being its largest market.