National boating products supplier West Marine has announced 80 forthcoming layoffs at a Fort Lauderdale support center as the company approaches an exit from Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.

The company notified the state of Florida of the impending October action in a letter filed under the Worker Adjustment Retraining Notice Act dated late last week. The notice said the layoffs will be permanent and affect employees at the company’s offices located at 1 E. Broward Blvd., Fort Lauderdale. Terminations are expected to begin on Oct. 3, the notice says.

The nationally prominent company, which was founded in 1968, arrived in downtown Fort Lauderdale in 2022 when it moved its corporate headquarters from Santa Cruz, California. At the time, West Marine boasted 236 stores across 38 states and Puerto Rico. According to the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance, “it announced its intention to staff its headquarters with approximately 225 additional jobs over time” and make an $800,000 capital investment in the city.

But in mid-May of this year, West Marine filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and has been closing dozens of stores ever since while continuing operations on a smaller scale.

At the point of filing its Chapter 11 petition, the company employed 2,600 employees nationally and operated roughly 200 stores, according to a disclosure statement filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. Since then, the store count has diminished to slightly more than 100. A company website on Monday showed 75 closures in 26 states, including 18 stores in Florida. A recent company request seeks court permission to shutter another eight stores around the U.S.

The people scheduled to lose their jobs in October range from clerks to analysts to senior managers and a pair of vice presidents. They work in fields including accounting, customer care, human resources, merchandising, operations, technology and transportation.

West Marine linked its financial troubles to a variety of factors, including bad weather, rising inflation, and tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on imported products.

It also cited a top-heavy inventory built out during the COVID-19 pandemic, when consumer demand for new boats initially rose significantly. But as the trend eased, West Marine found itself with large amounts of unsold goods. In addition, it held annual leases that cost more than $50 million a year, according to court documents.

Auction called off

West Marine had planned to put itself up for sale through a bankruptcy court auction in late June. Despite multiple expressions of interest, no qualified bidders stepped forward and the auction was called off, according to court documents.

Now the company is moving forward with a reorganization plan that is set for a hearing Tuesday before Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Karen B. Owens in Delaware. Its top financial supporters are on board with a “restructuring settlement agreement” that will shrink its debt load, the company says.

In court exhibits, the company is forecasting net losses for the fourth quarter of this year and into the ensuing years of 2027, 2028 and 2029. But management is predicting substantial annual increases in revenues along with positive earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.