{"id":217058,"date":"2024-03-26T09:26:44","date_gmt":"2024-03-26T09:26:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/26\/outdoor-voices-abruptly-closed-all-its-stores-and-laid-off-most-of-its-workforce-while-its-chairwoman-posted-cat-memes\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T17:19:55","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T17:19:55","slug":"outdoor-voices-abruptly-closed-all-its-stores-and-laid-off-most-of-its-workforce-while-its-chairwoman-posted-cat-memes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/26\/outdoor-voices-abruptly-closed-all-its-stores-and-laid-off-most-of-its-workforce-while-its-chairwoman-posted-cat-memes\/","title":{"rendered":"Outdoor Voices abruptly closed all its stores and laid off most of its workforce\u2014while its chairwoman posted cat memes"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Outdoor Voices<\/a> was a direct-to-consumer darling once valued at $110 million\u2014but the activewear brand has had a long fall from its\u00a0glory days. Years of executive reshuffles and acquisition rumors<\/a> culminated in a very public meltdown earlier this month, when the company closed all its retail locations and abruptly laid off most of its workforce. Outdoor Voices is now reportedly<\/a> on the verge of bankruptcy.<\/p>\n

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Former employees told Fortune<\/em> they are furious over the company\u2019s lack of communication about the store closures, as well as chair Ashley Merrill\u2019s behavior, which included posting Instagram<\/a> memes shortly after laying off dozens of workers.<\/p>\n

The actions were \u201ca slap to the face,\u201d one former Outdoor Voices worker told Fortune.<\/em><\/p>\n

On Monday, March 11, the company laid off an estimated 80% of its corporate workforce, including the entire HR, brand, and design teams, three former employees told Fortune<\/em>. The following day, it told staff it would close all 16 of its stores and sell exclusively online, leaving all retail employees out of a job with five days\u2019 notice. The people estimate there are now fewer than 15 employees left at the company.<\/p>\n

The former staffers expressed anger over a lack of communication from management, particularly Merrill. They noted that O.V.\u2019s abrupt store closures echo those that happened at her previous venture. Prior to investing in and effectively taking over O.V., Merrill was the founder and CEO of sleepwear brand Lunya, which filed for bankruptcy and quietly shuttered most of its stores in June 2023.<\/p>\n

The laid-off employees said the only communication they had received from Outdoor Voices since March 12 were a group Slack message confirming the closures, and a \u201cstandard\u201d mass email with final pay dates and a PDF attachment about unemployment. The email was sent by Lunya\u2019s people and culture director, the sources said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Outdoor Voices and Ashley Merrill did not respond to Fortune<\/em>\u2019s requests for comment.<\/p>\n

\u201cA slap to the face\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Three former retail employees told Fortune<\/em> they were notified of the store closures on March 12. Managers of O.V.\u2019s stores each received a phone call with the news from the company\u2019s vice president of retail\u2014who was later laid off as well, less than two months into the job.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt hit everyone by surprise,\u201d a former Houston-based sales associate told Fortune<\/em>. \u201cIt was kind of like a slap to the face, honestly.\u201d<\/p>\n

All retail employees were asked to keep working until Sunday, the sources said, on their regular pay scale, with no offer of severance or PTO payouts. One former store manager said she was offered a $500 incentive to keep working throughout the week, but hourly employees at her store were not offered the money.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s honestly kind of an insulting amount of money,\u201d the former manager told Fortune<\/em>. \u201cBut when you\u2019re about to be unemployed, $500 is $500.\u201d<\/p>\n

Between Wednesday and Sunday, all Outdoor Voices locations held \u201cblowout\u201d sales. Employees at multiple stores put handwritten notes on the storefront windows requesting donations to employees\u2019 Venmo accounts, and expressing discontent with Merrill\u2019s management. Merrill \u201chas not told anyone a reason why she chose to do this and was posting cat memes on her Instagram the day everyone was told,\u201d a note<\/a> at O.V.\u2019s Minneapolis store read.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Screenshots reviewed by Fortune<\/em> show Merrill had reshared two videos featuring cats on her Instagram story on March 13\u2014the morning after the store closures were announced. In one video<\/a>, an energetic kitten licks a sleepy-looking counterpart, alongside the caption \u201cThere are two types of people in the morning. Which one are you?\u201d The second video<\/a> shows a cat pushing a kitten into a cardboard box. \u201cWhen you\u2019re trying to be patient with your kid but also have f\u2014king limits,\u201d the caption read.<\/p>\n

Following the store closure announcement, former O.V. employees and customers flooded Merrill\u2019s Instagram with comments, seeking answers. Merrill then restricted comments on her account. The ex-employees then turned to Lunya\u2019s Instagram, where comments were soon disabled as well. As of March 24, comments on Outdoor Voices\u2019 Instagram are also disabled.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s kind of a sign of cowardice,\u201d the former sales associate said. \u201cYou should at least own up to what you did.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Former