Coldwater Creek closes West Virginia call center, leaving only one in CDA
Sandpoint clothing retailer Coldwater Creek is closing a West Virginia call center and concentrating that operation at its Coeur d’Alene location.
The change means the retailer won’t have an East Coast call center, except in situations where added support may be needed, said Coldwater Creek spokeswoman Bobbi Earle.
Coldwater Creek has had a 15-person call center and a distribution center in Parkesburg, West Va., for more than 10 years. The 15 workers there were offered jobs inside Coldwater Creek’s distribution center there.
The change does not increase jobs in the Coeur d’Alene center, Earle noted. But it will mean more work hours for the staff there, she added.
Earle, in a press release, said the closure results from technology allowing the company to centralize call center work at one site.
Each holiday season Coldwater Creek hires extra call center workers. Last winter the company added 30 workers in Coeur d'Alene. She expects roughly the same this year.
The release that announced the closure said: “Over the past three years, Coldwater Creek has experienced an increase in online ordering by its customers, similar to other retailers. In an effort to respond to this trend and improve efficiencies within the company, Coldwater Creek is consolidating its call center activities to one location in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho,” she said.