Hallmark CEO will take 20 percent pay cut as others are furloughed at KC headquarters
Hallmark Cards will temporarily cut staff pay and hours at its corporate headquarters in Kansas City as the firm reels from the economic downturn of the coronavirus pandemic.
The company will also cut executive pay by 20%. That includes the salary of President and CEO Mike Perry.
Hallmark Spokeswoman JiaoJiao Shen said the company was temporarily reducing hours for some of those who work at corporate and those who run Crown Center, the company’s real estate arm. She said Hallmark was working to “keep our employees paid and on their Hallmark benefits for as long as we can.”
Hallmark would not say what share of their corporate staff will be furloughed. But Shen said the COVID-19 pandemic was “having a significant impact on our business.”
“We must take swift and bold actions now,” she said in a statement, “both in response to the pressures on our business, and so we emerge from this crisis able to fulfill our brand promise.”
Hallmark temporarily closed its headquarters at Crown Center on March 16 after an employee was potentially exposed to the new coronavirus. The same week, the company began closing its manufacturing plants in Leavenworth, Lawrence and Texas.
The company previously said those plants would stay closed until at least April 6, with workers receiving paid time off for at least two weeks. Shen on Monday said the plants — along with the distribution center in Liberty, Missouri — remained temporarily closed.
Shen said some workers were receiving “disruption pay,” some are on paid leave and others are furloughed and will not work or receive pay. But furloughed workers will still receive medical, dental and vision insurance benefits and can apply for unemployment benefits, she said.
All company-owned Hallmark Gold Crown stores remain temporarily closed.
The company in January cut about 400 corporate jobs as part of a wider transformation of one of Kansas City’s best-known companies.
Aside from its marquee greeting card business, Hallmark owns the Crayola brand of art supplies, cable television’s Hallmark Channel and the real estate development company that oversees the 85-acre Crown Center complex in Kansas City. It also boasts more than 2,000 company and independently owned Hallmark Gold Crown stores, which sell cards, gift wrap, holiday ornaments and home decor.
This story was originally published April 6, 2020 at 5:01 PM.
