Edited by: JV Staff
B&H Photo & Electronics, the iconic electronics retailer that has made a name for itself in Manhattan and throughout the world announced this week that it was furloughing 400 of its 2000 employees because of the coronavirus lockdown, according to a NY Post report.
Last month, B&H shuttered its Manhattan megastore that employs Orthodox Jews from the tri-state area. Izzy Friedman, the human resources director of B&H told those employees that are now without jobs that this was a very difficult decision for the company and it “waited as long as possible” before sending out the pink slips. The Post reported that Friedman reminded the laid off employees that B&H has been providing salaries and benefits “ “through the Passover holiday break, and beyond to make this easier.”
B&H is a landmark in Manhattan for locals and tourists from across the globe who travel to the Big Apple in order to purchase electronic equipment and supplies from the celebrated retailer. B&H has been in operation for the last 47 years in its flagship store on 9th Avenue and West 34th Street in midtown Manhattan.
Friedman also told employees that B&H had no choice but to let the 400 employees go because the “crisis has continued with no clear end in sight” but was looking forward to evaluating “the various stimulus benefits available,” according to the Post report.
“It is our sincerest hope and prayer that this global pandemic and its economic impacts will be temporary, and that in the future we will be able to reverse many of these furloughs,” Friedman wrote in the Wednesday memo, as was reported by the Post.
According to one B&H employee who spoke to the Post, the layoffs come as a surprise as the store’s call center has been generating a brisk business from those who wish to order electronic equipment such as cameras, computers and accessories. Now that a vast majority of people are working from home due to the coronavirus pandemic, such orders are related to those seeking to set up offices from home.
Back on March 16th, B&H officially closed its two-story Manhattan location, however, according to the company’s web site, those who placed online or phone orders may pick up their products within 30 minutes of their order at the side entrance of the midtown store, according to the Post report.
B&H is owned by the Schreiber family. Its first store was opened in Tribeca in 1973 and has since grown exponentially.
In November of 2019, it was reported that New York State’s Attorney General Letitia James had filed suit against B&H, alleging that the store withheld approximately $7.3 million in tax revenue from New York State over 13 years.
Officially, the suit is for violations of New York’s Tax Law, the New York False Claims Act, and New York’s Executive Law. The suit claims that B&H — the nation’s largest non-chain photo and video equipment retailer — knowingly failed to pay sales tax due on tens of millions of dollars it received from electronics manufacturers to reimburse the company for “instant rebate” manufacturer discounts B&H passed along to its customers.
A spokesman for B&H Photo, Jeff Gerstel, said the state’s lawsuit was without merit in a statement. “B&H is not a big box store or a faceless chain; we are a New York institution, having operated here for nearly 50 years with a stellar reputation. The tax department has done countless audits and never once – not a single time – mentioned this widespread industry practice. B&H has done nothing wrong and it is outrageous that the AG has decided to attack a New York company that employs thousands of New Yorkers while leaving the national online and retail behemoths unchallenged.”
