Retail

Toy maker Mattel is shuttering its New York office

Key Points
  • Toy maker Mattel announced Monday it is closing its New York office.
  • The closure will affect roughly 100 employees.
  • The move is part of a previously announced $650 million cost savings plan.
A girl looks at Barbie Dolls at a department store.
Peter Parks | AFP | Getty Images

Toy maker Mattel announced on Monday that it is closing its New York office, as part of a previously announced $650 million cost savings plan.

The closing, which will take place in phases through the rest of the year, will affect roughly 100 employees.

The office was not a strategic location for the company, a spokesperson told CNBC. Most or all of the employees will be relocated to one of its other principal locations in the U.S., he said. They include: Los Angeles, East Aurora (its Fisher-Price store), Middleton, Wisconsin (its American Girl store) and London (its Thomas & Friends store).

It had announced a cost savings program in October, with the goal to eliminate $650 million over two years, one-third of which it expects to achieve this year. It also suspended its quarterly dividend.

The toy company has had a tough year, deeply impacted first by the bankruptcy — and now the liquidation — of Toys R Us.

Toys R Us was Mattel's second-largest customer and retailer of many of its exclusives. Without its chain of stores to showcase its products, it will need to resort to Amazon and profit-squeezing big box stores.

"Our fourth-quarter performance reflects a tough quarter as part of what was a difficult and extraordinary year for Mattel," Mattel CEO Margo Georgiadis recently told analysts at a company earnings call.

Mattel saw net sales drop 11 percent for the year, and reported an adjusted loss per share of $1.08.