Scholastic permanently closing Danbury facility; Bartaco, Suit Supply USA announce furloughs

One Danbury business is closing, while a restaurant chain with Stamford and Westport locations and a Greenwich clothing store have announced temporary furloughs in the face of the COVID-19 crisis.

Scholastic Inc. has informed the Connecticut Department of Labor that it is permanently closing its Danbury facility, with 87 employees being laid off by June 5.

“Because of the coronavirus pandemic, 46 states in the U.S. have closed or announced the closing of schools, significantly impacting the company”™s ability to operate,” Senior Human Resources Manager Donna Millillo wrote to the Labor Department. “This impact includes significantly decreased revenue and customer counts as a result of widespread cancellation of orders across the book fairs, book clubs and scholastic education departments.”

Millillo noted that the facility at 90 Old Sherman Turnpike had previously furloughed an unspecified number of employees on or around March 23.

The closing is expected to be permanent.

Meanwhile, the Bartaco chain has informed the Labor Department that it is temporarily laying off a total of 190 employees at its restaurants at 222 Summer St. in Stamford, 20 Wilton Road in Westport and 971 Farmington Ave. in West Hartford.

Bartaco, which operates 22 restaurants in 13 states, is still offering curbside pick-up and delivery services.

In addition, Suit Supply USA at 80 Mason St. in Greenwich is temporarily furloughing 11 employees.