ACE store
ACE fires 15% of its staff
DIY chain also cancels plans to open branch in Turkey, freezes plans to open Auto Depot branch in Czech Republic
DIY chain ACE has cut back on 15% of its manpower at the company's headquarters that employed some 100 workers, Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported Sunday.
The chain has also halted plans to open an Auto Depot branch in the Czech Republic and announced it was canceling plans to open an ACE branch in Turkey.
The chain, controlled by the Gaon group and the Zbeda family will offer a more intensive compensation plan to employees per sale, to motivate their activity.
ACE Chairman Kobi Moisa said the chain was entering the year 2009 prepared, with a NIS 90 million (about $23.2 million) reserve to cover the company in the event that the economic crisis worsens.
"We are now in a situation where we don't need any favors from anyone," Moisa said, "ACE is a well-established and profitable company, with cash in its pocket."
The chain is expected to close 2008 with a turnover of NIS 770 million ($198.4 million).
Moisa said he did not expect a dramatic drop in sales. "I don't think we will manage to regenerate the operational profit of the first half of 2008, but I do expect us to profit," he said.
Despite cut backs, the chain plans to open new branches in Tiberius, Kfar Saba, Kiryat Shmona and, possibly, Eilat.
