Dive Brief:
- Wonder is cutting 533 jobs in New Jersey between Sept. 16 and Jan. 8, according to a WARN notice in the Garden State.
- The company is closing two production facilities in Cranford and Fairfield and moving into a higher-capacity facility in Swedesboro, the company said in an emailed statement.
- Wonder said these layoffs are unrelated to a round of cuts that occurred about a week ago impacting roughly 150 jobs, including roles within Grubhub, as it prepares to go public.
Dive Insight:
Wonder, which has grown to about 150 food hall locations, has been changing up its operations as it continues to grow rapidly.
Earlier this month the company sold Grubhub’s campus business to DoorDash for $300 million. DoorDash also invested $125 million as part of a strategic partnership. In September, it started to deploy its Infinite Makeline, an automated prep line technology it bought from Sweetgreen last year for $186 million. Over the summer, Wonder raised an additional $650 million bringing its total raise to over $3 billion and valuation to roughly $9 billion.
The shift in production facilities in New Jersey will bring production and distribution under one roof, which will help with efficiency and support as Wonder expands into new markets, the company said.
“Because this is a site consolidation, it unfortunately requires winding down operations and the roles tied to those locations,” the company said. “We recognize this is a significant disruption for these employees and we are working to support them through this transition.”
Impacted employees will receive severance, outplacement services and opportunities to apply for open positions across Wonder, including at the new facility, the company said. The new facility is expected to open in November.
