Chewy Slashes 674 Jobs at Dallas Fulfillment Hub

Online pet retailer Chewy is cutting 674 jobs at its massive Dallas fulfillment center, signaling a major shift in how the company handles shipping in the region. The layoffs will hit the facility at 7243 Grady Niblo Road starting on May 10, according to a notice filed with the state this week. The move comes as the company focuses more on automated warehouses and adjusts to changing shopping habits.

Key Facts

• The Cut: 674 warehouse and fulfillment roles will be eliminated between May 10 and June 25.
• The Site: The 663,000-square-foot facility in Southwest Dallas will stay open but with “substantially reduced capacity.”
• No Bumping: Impacted workers do not have “bumping rights,” meaning senior employees cannot take the jobs of newer hires to stay employed.
• Source: CoStar, WFAA

Scaling Back in Texas

Chewy told state officials in a letter that while the building isn’t closing completely, it will run with a much smaller team. The decision affects a wide range of warehouse staff at the hub, which opened in 2017 to speed up shipping times in the South. Management said the layoffs are permanent.

This reduction is one of the largest single-site cuts for Chewy in recent years. The company has been putting more money into automated fulfillment centers that use robots to sort and pack orders. CEO Sumit Singh recently told investors that about half of the company’s shipments now go through these automated sites, which cost less to run than older, manual warehouses like the one in Dallas.

The Bigger Picture

The pet supply market is cooling down after a huge boom during the pandemic. Shoppers are buying less or switching to cheaper options as inflation squeezes budgets. Steve Triolet, a market researcher, noted that the peak for pet food delivery has likely passed as more people return to office work and change their daily routines.

Chewy is not alone in this. Other delivery-focused companies are also trimming staff to save money. For the workers in Dallas, the loss of nearly 700 jobs is a heavy blow. The company has not yet announced specific details on severance packages, but confirmed that the cuts will happen in waves through late June.