Borsheim's 13 layoffs are the first in 100-year company history

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Published Wednesday June 10, 2009

By Christine Laue
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

Borsheim's Fine Jewelry & Gifts of Omaha has laid off 13 employees — the first job cuts in the company's more than 100-year history, said spokeswoman Adrienne Fay.

The recession has hurt the luxury retailing sector, especially the jewelry industry, the company said in a prepared statement.

The layoffs come despite company efforts to preserve jobs by other cost-cutting measures implemented since November 2008, when sales began to decline.

“The loss of our staff members is devastating,” said Susan Jacques, Borsheim's president and CEO.

“This is the absolute last thing we wanted to do,” she said. “While we are hopeful that we might see signs of an economic recovery in the fourth quarter of 2009, we had to make extremely difficult decisions out of a fiduciary responsibility to Berkshire Hathaway and its shareholders to continue to remain profitable despite these challenging times.”

Fay said the layoffs are positions from across the company but declined to characterize them further.

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