Boise fitness-supplement retailer has shrunk, shed jobs. Dozens more layoffs coming
Bodybuilding.com, which has struggled amid competition from Amazon and others, plans more layoffs in October at its Northwest Boise headquarters.
The fitness-oriented nutritional supplement company filed notice Aug. 19 that it would lay off 76 workers, ranging from a senior vice president to 13 customer service representatives, on Oct. 20. It is at least the second round of layoffs this year. An unknown number of people lost their jobs in January.
The company declined to discuss the layoffs. It appears they represent at least one-third of the remaining staff based in the headquarters Bodybuilding.com opened seven years ago at 5777 N. Meeker Ave., near Cloverdale Road and Chinden Boulevard. Federal law requires that a company with 50 to 499 workers notify the state Department of Labor 60 days in advance if it lays off more than one-third of all employees working at least 20 hours a week.
Bodybuilding.com employed an estimated 800 people in 2015, including 600 at its headquarters. Available information suggests that it will have fewer than 200 people still based there after October’s layoffs. Many employees are working at home because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The October layoffs, first reported by BoiseDev.com, represent the first mass layoff since Bodybuilding.com was sold in May for the second time in less than a year.
Ryan DeLuca started Bodybuilding.com in his garage in 1999, three years after graduating from Boise’s Capital High School. He built it into one of Idaho’s most successful technology-based startups.
DeLuca sold a controlling interest to a unit of Liberty Media in 2008 but stayed on as chairman until 2015. Bodybuilding.com told the Statesman in 2015 that it was on pace to reach $500 million in sales that year.
DeLuca was succeeded by Richard Jalichandra, who led a restructuring in December 2016 that brought the layoff of at least 90 workers.
Liberty replaced Jalichandra with Jas Krdzalic in 2017. Liberty sold a group of businesses, including Bodybuilding.com, to Expedia Inc. in July 2019. Ten months later, Expedia sold Bodybuilding.com to the Najafi Cos., a private equity firm in Phoenix.
Expedia, best known for its online travel-booking services, has struggled itself amid rising competition and the coronavirus downturn in travel. Its chief financial officer told investors that the company sold Bodybuilding.com “as part of our simplification effort.”
Expedia’s public financial filings show that Bodybuilding.com sales fell to $20 million in the second quarter of this year, down from $24 million in the third quarter of last year and $39 million in 2020’s first quarter.
Bodybuilding.com has rolled out a subscription workout-plans site called BodyFit that it hopes will capitalize on the company’s base of loyal customers and its reputation as a go-to source of information about fitness. The “Elite” plan costs $12.99 per month.
The company declined to address the upcoming layoffs. “In accordance with company policy, we cannot comment on employment-related matters,” Bodybuilding.com said in a statement.
This story was originally published September 1, 2020 at 4:00 AM.
