Fresno-based distribution center acquisition puts 117 workers out of jobs. Here’s where
More than a hundred workers will be laid off in early April as a result of the termination of multiple business operations at a Fresno-based distribution warehouse.
Next month, S&S Activewear will lay off 117 employees at its 331,520 square-foot distribution center at 4247 S Minnewawa Ave, Fresno, CA 93725.
The Illinois-based company distributes apparel and accessories of more than 100 brands in the United States and Canada, such as adidas, Under Armour and Dickies.
The company has 17 distribution centers and 4 million square feet of warehouse space throughout North America in Nevada, Texas, Kansas, Illinois, Ohio and several states on the East Coast, according to its website.
The Fresno distribution center is the company’s last California location. In 2019, the company closed another southern California-based warehouse that resulted in 136 layoffs.
The California Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, also known as the WARN Act, requires employers to give 60-days’ notice before a mass layoff, plant closure or relocation.
S&S Activewear filed its notice with the state on Feb. 2.
The layoffs will go into effect on April 9.
The layoffs come less than a year after S&S Activewear acquired acquired another distributor of trade, retail, apparel brands and branded products called alphabroder, according to an October company press release.
The companies are leaders in the promotional products industry and in imprintable apparel and accessories.
Combined, the two companies accounted for over $4.1 billion in 2023 revenue, according to The Advertising Specialty Institute.
While state WARN Act records classify the layoffs as “permanent closure, ” Marc Vitulli, S&S’s chief marketing officer, said there will be still some distribution out of the Fresno warehouse.
Vitulli said the Fresno facility has primarily supported alphabroder’s decoration operations. Following the acquisition, S&S left the decoration business.
The impacted Fresno employees were those that are members of the decoration and Hard Goods fulfillment teams, he said.
The Fresno facility’s decoration operations will close and Hard Goods fulfillment will transition to the Bridgeport, CT, and Gaffney, SC, distribution centers during the second quarter of 2025, he said.
“Apparel distribution will continue to operate out of Fresno while we assess the long-term role of the facility within our distribution network,” Vitulli said.
Impacted workers receiving training, assistance
Impacted S&S Activewear employees are receiving training and assistance from the Fresno Regional Workforce Development Board, or Workforce Connection, said executive director Blake Konczal.
Starting March 25, Workforce Connection is hosting two sessions in Spanish and English on job training opportunities available to them, Konczal said.
Other state partners will help workers apply for unemployment benefits and COBRA medical benefits.
“S&S has been really good in that they filed their paperwork in a timely fashion,” Konczal said. “The company is being quite cooperative.”
“Having workers informed of what their rights are and what resources are available, available to them as they deal with a transition from one job to another always makes what’s a difficult process easier,” he said.
Konczal said because of the prevalence of logistics and warehouses in Fresno, these workers with warehouse and shipping experience shouldn’t have a hard time finding a job.
“Those are skills that are transferable to other employers almost immediately,” he said.
According to an EDD analysis, as of January 2025, the Fresno metropolitan area has an estimated 22,000 jobs in the “transportation, warehouse and utilities” sector.
This story was originally published March 17, 2025 at 7:00 AM.
