Gateway Closes Fayetteville Store

Computer maker Gateway Inc. closed its Fayetteville store on March 23 as part of a restructuring effort that includes shuttering one-third of the company’s 244 stores and laying off 1,900 employees, 17 percent of its work force.

Twelve people worked at the store in Fayetteville’s Spring Creek Center shopping area south of the Northwest Arkansas Mall. The store opened in 2000.

The Poway, Calif., company said it would close 80 stores by March 24 in an effort to save about $400 million a year. The cuts will leave the company with 9,300 employees.

CEO Ted Waitt called the actions “tough but necessary,” adding that the company expects the measures to restore its financial health.

Including the latest cuts, Gateway has eliminated about 10,000 jobs in the last two years. Gateway, the nation’s fourth-largest computer maker, had a net loss of $309 million last year and $1.03 billion in 2001.